Dodge and Chase
by CollidingMuse
Summary: Wanted: Personal assistant with investigative background for busy entrepreneur; flexible hours, excellent pay; must be discreet, single, obedient. AU, canon characters, SVM/TB. Collaboration from InvertedMeridian and J.R. Watkins.
1. Chapter 1

A/N All characters are based on those created by Charlaine Harris. No infringement is intended.

Dodge and Chase

"Oh, my."

The taller vampire followed his companion's gaze across the room. "Who is she?" he asked, focusing intently on the small wide-eyed figure stalled by the bar. Though the woman in question was his Child's type, she was not his Child's 'type.'

"The phone call," she snapped. When her Maker smirked, she huffed. "You can barely see her!" she protested.

"What is her name?"

"Sookie Stackhouse."

As if the vampires had called to her, Sookie's eyes suddenly shot to the pair watching her. The tall one nodded, while the shorter one, the female, hastily beckoned Sookie to them. She carefully wove her way across the room, relaxing her grip on the portfolio she clutched to her chest, and by the time she reached the pair of vampires, it dangled from her hand.

Sookie's eyes danced between them, occasionally above their heads as if something were hanging from the ceiling. A broad smile stretched across her pretty face as her posture relaxed, and she offered her hand.

"Ms. Ravenscroft?" Sookie guessed.

The female arched her perfect eyebrows. Sookie's hand was warm in her cool one, and her grip was steady. "Miss Stackhouse?"

"Sookie," she replied breathlessly. "Sorry about the phone call. I just wasn't sure when I pulled up that this was the right address." She nodded slightly at the female and looked expectantly at the male.

"This is Eric Northman, my...associate."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Northman."

Ignoring Sookie's hand, Eric looked her over quickly, wondering what set her apart from the other humans crowding the dark room. He supposed it could be her serious manner of dress, though he especially admired the heels she wore with her tight-fitting suit. Sookie's was the appealing type of figure that was difficult to hide under drab clothing. Her blond hair was longer than his, her eyes a different shade of blue, but there was something familiar amongst their differences.

"You may call me Eric," he said finally, ignoring the noise of disgust his Child made too lowly for Sookie to hear. He gestured to the empty booth in the corner and waited for the two women to sit before sliding in next to his Child. "A drink?"

"Ice water would be fine, thank you," she said.

As a rule, humans invited to sit with vampires, which Eric could not remember ever having done, were not as comfortable as Sookie now appeared to be. "Have you been here before?" he asked, knowing she had not.

"No," Sookie replied, chuckling as she drew out the word. "Sorry! I mean, no. I've never been here before." She had never been to a vampire club, never seen a vampire and certainly never talked to or touched one. "It's, uh..." She watched a waitress place a glass of water in front of her before placing two bottles of synthetic blood in front of the vampires. It occurred to her that Eric and Pam were not patrons. "You own the place."

"We both do, Pam and I," Eric confirmed.

"Shall we discuss Miss Stackhouse's qualifications?" Pam asked abruptly.

"Oh!" Sookie exclaimed. She had been distracted at the sight of Eric drinking deeply from his bottle and fumbled to pull out her resume. "You didn't mention it, Miss Ravenscroft, but here's my..." Her voice trailed off at the combined looks of disinterest in the paper she had placed on the table. "I have a copy of my certificate, too," she went on.

"Certificate?" Pam asked.

"Private investigator?" Sookie looked from Pam to Eric. "The ad?"

"Was for a personal assistant-"

"With an investigative background," Eric said, interrupting Pam. He suddenly stood and motioned for her to move from the booth. "Leave us."

"Fuck her and get it over with," Pam grumbled, slipping past him.

"Watch your mouth," he replied, but all Sookie could hear were sharp hisses. Eric resumed his place at the booth and picked up the paper. "Sookie Stackhouse," he murmured. A local girl, high school graduate, no formal college education. "Why did you reply to the ad, Sookie?" he asked, his eyes not leaving her resume.

Sookie had tried to prepare herself for everything, she thought, that might come up in what would be her first job interview in her life. She had spent hours online, researching interview questions used by various business models. She had even practiced in front of her own mirror. But the moment she had stepped inside the vampire club, she realized no amount of preparation could have left her ready for the vampire sitting across from her at that moment.

"I'm qualified," she said. It was for the most part true, in that a few days before she had printed off her certificate of completion of a six-month private investigation online course. Eric's ad hadn't specified the length of experience needed, and Sookie was certainly discreet and single.

When he didn't reply and continued to read, she took the opportunity to observe his club. Letting her mind relax, Sookie tried not to flinch at the sudden onslaught of thoughts and images that immediately invaded it. It was her secret, and further proof of her ability to be discreet, that she was telepathic and had been so as far back as she could remember. And though it had only taken her six months to qualify for her new occupation, it had taken twenty-six years to get up the nerve to decide how to put her telepathy to some use.

Sookie had always been good at caring for others, and she had always felt a pull to help those in need. Eric's ad, and the idea of getting paid to do so, seemed like the perfect opportunity.

"How so?" he abruptly asked, and for a second, Sookie wondered if he could read her mind.

"How so?" she repeated.

"How are you qualified?"

"I fit your criteria," she answered simply.

Eric smirked and laid down the resume. "You are unattached?"

"One brother. We don't talk much." She watched as Eric's long fingers traced a pattern she couldn't see on the wooden table top. "I'm a little unclear on the 'obedient' part," she admitted.

"Can you do what you are told?"

"Do you mean, can I do what's asked of me?" she clarified, and he nodded. "Isn't that what you'd be paying me to do?"

Eric's eyes trailed Pam as she flitted behind the bar. "You would be surprised how difficult that can be," he said distractedly.

Sookie cleared her throat and took a sip of water. "Would you be my boss?" Was he the 'busy entrepreneur'?

"You would work directly under me, yes."

Sookie nodded carefully and glanced around the room. Most of the waitresses, from what she had heard from their heads, had 'worked under' him in some capacity. As had many of the patrons. It wasn't surprising, given how attractive Eric was, and from the memories she'd seen, very skilled with most parts of his anatomy. "What hours do you require from an assistant? Daytime?" she asked, hoping that might be the key to avoiding falling into the same trap.

"Sometimes. Why?" Her demeanor had changed, and Eric wondered what had caused it.

"The ad mentioned flexible hours," she explained hastily.

Eric leaned back against his seat to study her. "You have misgivings about the position."

Sookie's eyes fell to her lap. "I'm not like your...employees here, Mr. Northman. Or any of these women, really," she said, embarrassed. It was startling, the number of females with whom he'd been intimate in one room. She had to assume Pam could be included, though much to Sookie's surprise and initial delight, she had learned that evening that she couldn't read vampires. It had at first thrilled her, but the more she heard from the outside, she feared what was actually going on inside.

"No, you are not," he agreed. "As far as I can tell, you have not parted your knees in invitation below the table, you have not offered your obvious charms or blood, nor have you been anything but professional, Miss Stackhouse. Have I mistaken your sincere interest in the job for something else? Is there a fang-banger hiding under that suit, waiting for me to bend her over my desk in my office?" Eric's voice had risen, and Sookie could hear a more pronounced accent to his words.

"I wasn't implying-"

"This position is not a ruse," he said seriously. Though his angry behavior was. Eric had envisioned Sookie in many positions on nearly every surface since she'd sat down. Were it legal and had he known Sookie would apply for the job, he would have listed unlimited consensual sex in the ad as a requirement.

"I understand, I meant no offense." She smiled widely again and looked around. "Is there a restroom I could use?"

Eric gestured to a hallway beside the bar, and Sookie excused herself, her empty seat immediately occupied by Pam. "Your thoughts?" he asked, smirking.

"She has great tits."

Eric laughed and silently agreed. When Pam moved to look through Sookie's bag, he stopped her. "Leave it. I doubt there is anything in there."

"She is poor," Pam went on. "Her clothes are cheap."

"One's lack of personal wealth does not detract from my desire to hire someone I expect to pay," he reasoned.

"Are you seriously considering sending her on your wild goose chase?" Pam knew Eric's interest in Sookie Stackhouse went beyond the expendable human he needed at the moment.

"What is your concern?"

Pam stared thoughtfully at the resume lying between them. "She lacks a certain...fear."

"That could be favorable," he argued. "She adapts well."

"Yes," Pam agreed. "But why? It's clear she has never associated with our kind. Is she really that naive, to have no inherent...hesitation? Perhaps she is stupid?"

"Why would you care?" he asked. Eric did not, for a moment, believe Sookie lacked intelligence. She had been correct, he agreed, that she was unlike any woman at Fangtasia. He also didn't doubt that she was probably 'hesitating' all over the toilet in the bathroom as they spoke.

"I do not," Pam admitted, standing. "Give her a shot, it's not as if you can't glamor her if she doesn't work out."

Eric watched his Child glide away as Sookie returned to the table. "How are you finding the club?" he asked, genuinely interested in her answer.

"You could use a better doorman," she quipped, settling across from him. "Those three girls right there by the bar are underage."

He coolly glanced at the young trio, before looking back to Sookie. "How do you know?"

"I heard one of them in the bathroom." Which wasn't a lie, though she would not specify which part of her did the hearing. Sookie reached for her resume, only to be stopped by Eric's large hand covering her smaller one.

"I wish to keep it."

She swallowed and pulled back. "I don't think you want me for this job, Mr. Northman."

"You are wrong, Miss Stackhouse. I very much do want you."

And that right there was the problem for Sookie. After splashing cold water on her face in the bathroom and trying not to hyperventilate in the toilet stall, she had mentally attempted to list the pros and cons of working for a vampire. More specifically, a vampire like Eric Northman. Though she had no experience with them as a group, even Sookie could tell she'd stumbled across a big one.

"Give me a week," he said soothingly. "A trial period. To see if you 'fit' my criteria," he added, raising his eyebrow.

Sookie couldn't help but laugh at the forced look of innocence that fell over his very handsome face. "I'm sure you read I worked at a bar the last six years. I'm not buying your act for a minute," she joked, blushing.

Eric found himself smiling at their banter. "Fortunately for you, those days are over."

She tried to ignore the tingling sensation that started at her tailbone and made its way to the base of her skull. "That's kind of...it's just..." she stammered.

"A promise, Miss Stackhouse." Eric rose to his feet and offered his hand. "Come back tomorrow, after dark. You can give me your answer then."

Sookie opened her mouth, knowing already how she wanted to answer, and closed it. "Tomorrow."

.

.

.

A/N This story is a collaboration of InvertedMeridian and JR Watkins. This chapter, and subsequent odd numbered ones, are JR's, all even chapters are courtesy of IM.


	2. Chapter 2

Dodge and Chase, Chapter 2

Sookie parked behind her house in a daze. The usual 45-minute drive from Shreveport to Bon Temps had taken well over an hour...she was honestly surprised that she'd remembered the way home.

Vampires. Was she actually considering working for them? Really? How could she not, though? She desperately needed a job since she'd quit Merlotte's after slapping Sam across the face in the middle of the lunch-hour rush. She'd been forced to react when he'd decided to watch her tits in lieu of the beer pitcher he'd let seriously overflow. Pouring that same pitcher of beer over his head might have been overkill...well, _fun_ overkill. But..enough was definitely enough.

Unfortunately she still had to take the waitressing apron back, though, but had quietly rejoiced that she'd taken to leaving her purse at home and just carrying her wallet and keys in her pockets of late. Stomping right out of that "establishment" had felt unbelievably good. She sighed.

Right.

Job.

Vampires.

Sookie pondered and contemplated the pros (money, although she didn't know how much, freedom to use her talents how she chose, the lovely mental silence from vampires, Eric...) and cons (possibly being bitten, potentially odd hours, no clear idea of what the job entailed, possibly being bitten...Eric...) while she floated through her night-time routines.

Somehow a pint of pistachio ice cream helped her decide.

Following a thoroughly irritating night spent tossing and turning, Sookie woke the next morning filled with nervous energy. After compounding that nervousness with half a pot of coffee, she put said energy to great use by cleaning her already-clean house.

Sometime after 11 o'clock she decided to clean up, put on her big-girl panties, and go to the dreaded Merlotte's. She needed to return that damn apron, and she wanted to grab some lunch since she was really craving one of Lafayette's special burgers.

A little while later, Sookie and her ugly yellow car entered the packed lot of the only "restaurant and bar" in Bon Temps. After parking, she checked her look in the little flip-down mirror attached to the sun visor, scooped up some fortitude from the floorboard, and proudly headed to the front doors instead of the employee entrance.

She glanced around once she was inside, and was happy to locate Catfish and Hoyt sitting at a table off to the side near the kitchen. Sam was brooding behind the bar as usual, but she just ignored him. She was very glad to note that their waitress was Darla and _not_ Arlene. The fake red-head was still mad at her for stopping the much-abused free babysitting service a while back. Babysitting Arlene's kids once in a while or during a true emergency was fine...babysitting all the freakin' time just so Arlene could go out and "scratch an itch" and trap a husband...wasn't.

When he saw Sookie approaching Catfish immediately stood and held his arms wide to give her a cheerful, fatherly, hug. He'd been great friends with the young blonde's dad and still mourned the loss of both him and the highly-esteemed Adele.

"Well you're a sight for sore eyes," he exclaimed as he thumped her back enthusiastically.

She heartily returned the hardworking man's hug, glad for his supportive presence in both her life and in Merlotte's just then.

"Catfish! How have you been? Still bowling over in Shreveport every Tuesday night?" She gave his broad, and slightly dirty, back another affectionate pat and released him to take a step backward to see him better.

"Oh, you know he is," interrupted Hoyt with a huge grin. "The man's never met a bowlin' pin he didn't wanna knock over." He'd never admit it, but he'd always had a bit of a crush on his best friend Jason's younger sister. Although just about everyone else thought there was something a bit "off" about her, he'd never paid it no mind. She was just Beautiful Sookie who was really nice to him, and nothing else mattered.

"Hush it, Hoyt. Here," Catfish pulled out a chair, "have a seat. What've you been up to these days? I take it you're no longer workin' here, eh?"

Sookie grimaced. Naturally her "quitting episode" the other day had made the gossip rounds at twice the speed of light.

"Erm, nope, I sure don't." A flash of pure disgust crossed her face.

"Alright, girl, what happened? Did Sam's crush on you finally get out of hand?" Catfish's voice became more serious. He was normally a very laid-back individual, but he'd never held with letting a man disrespect a woman in any way.

"Hey, how'd you know about that?" Sookie hadn't realized that anyone else had noticed it. Maybe that was because she, herself, really hadn't wanted to think about his Sookie Obsession.

"Who _didn't_ know would be the easier question. Hell, everybody done had you'n him married off an' raising a passel a'youngins a couple of years ago."

Sookie laughed at Catfish's air quotes around the tangent that her life was "supposed" to have taken, then she shivered. Somehow the thought of sex with Sam just seemed...slippery and disgusting, kind of like the seal sex that had inadvertently, and unfortunately, caught her eye while she was flipping past one of those animal channels on tv one day. She'd resolved to purchase some brain bleach immediately. Sadly, she'd yet to locate any.

All three studiously avoided Sam's myopic glare as he attempted to stare holes into their heads.

"Nope. Sorry. That is _so_ not going to happen," her voice trailed off as the waitress Darla approached with an unnecessary menu.

"Oh, hey, Sook. So, um..." The obviously-flustered young waitress wasn't sure how to handle this situation. She'd never had to serve a former employee before.

Sookie mentally rolled her eyes as she verbally ordered a sweet tea, a burger Layfayette all the way, and 4-minute fries.

"Appetizer? Lemon for your tea?" Darla enquired as she scribbled the order on her pad.

"Nope on the lemon. They've started making my tongue burn here lately, but I'd love a basket of fried pickles if the cook has the time."

"Bay-be, I gots the time if you gots the dime, ho-ney." Layfayette's sing-song voice suddenly floated from the near-by kitchen.

"Lala!" Sookie grinned at Catfish and Hoyt as she jumped up to go see her flamboyant best friend. After a very brief hug ("Ho-ney, I's mad at you so you don't get to be all hugging up on me, ya hear? You gots some 'splainin' to do 'bout that scene you pulled without even havin' me here to witness, missy."), and a fervent promise to call Lala and "do her 'splainin'", Sookie went to the restroom, and returned to her seat just in time for her tea and fried pickles to arrive. She hoped that particular order hadn't been meant to go to another table.

After draining half her tea and inhaling half the basket of fried pickles, she continued her interrupted discussion with Catfish while Hoyt happily finished off her appetizer while he waited for his second burger.

"I just got sick and tired of Sam putting me down every time I turned around. He tried to make it sound like he was being a friend, that he was looking out for me, but I finally realized that all he wanted was for me to stay stuck _here_, working my feet off as a waitress, for the rest of my life."

She took a sip of her tea, then continued, "I finally figured out that all he cared about was what _HE_ wanted, and that he didn't give one single thought or care about what _I_ wanted. And the sad part is that he isn't really any different than most other people around here. After Gran died, it was just me, you know? I mean, I knew that if I'd had any problems," she added hastily when she saw Catfish's face fall and Hoyt's hand still, "I could have called you guys, and you'd have helped me right then, but...I need more. I thought about it a long time, and came to the conclusion that I want more out of my life than working myself into the grave serving other people."

She paused to sneak a pickle from the almost-empty basket, then continued sadly, " I didn't mind a bit staying around here to help Gran out. But, now that she's gone, I don't have any other reason to keep an exhausting, low-paying job where I'm treated like yesterday's trash by half the customers, and where I have to be on my guard to keep from being backed up in the office again by the owner who has problems keeping his slippery hands and slimy thoughts to himself. I deserve better than that."

She looked up into Darla's startled eyes when the waitress suddenly appeared to refill her tea. Sookie just nodded at the teenager and hoped she'd take the overheard conversation to heart.

"I'm sorry, cher. I knew he had a thing for ya, but I never thought he'd do something about it. I thought he had better sense than that."

She shrugged. "He should have, but I guess not. That was just the last straw, though. I had already started taking classes to do something different with my life by then, anyway, and I was so sick and tired of hearing him question my plans and tear them apart just to make me doubt myself. "

Catfish and Hoyt both looked angry at her words, and sad that the time for action on their part had come and gone.

After picking at the chicken fingers in his combo-basket, the younger man asked, "So, what have you decided to do? Have you got another job yet? I've got some money saved up to move out of mom's house if you need it." He face flushed with the bravery his offer had taken. She was just so beautiful and sweet-looking.

Sookie's face softened at Hoyt's heartfelt offer. He really was a dear friend, but she'd always hoped that he'd meet someone who would return his gentle, tender feelings.

"I'm doing fine for now, Hoyt, but I really do appreciate your offer. I think I have a job, too. I'll find out more about it tonight."

Further conversation was halted when Darla brought out Sookie's order and Hoyt's second burger Layfayette.

Sookie happily ignored Sam's continuous glare and simply enjoyed her meal since she had no idea when she'd have an opportunity to come back. Conversation amongst the three of them was sporadic between bites of food, and only about lighter subjects. She had a great time teasing Catfish about his bowling and Hoyt about his determination to catch "the big one" from the lake behind Jason's house.

Finally full, Sookie took one last slurp of her tea, and placed the offensive apron on the table before standing to leave. She happily gave both Catfish and Hoyt a big hug each, and graciously accepted Catfish's offer to pay for her lunch when her refusals fell on his suddenly-deaf ears.

As she left Merlotte's, she took in a huge lung-full of fresh, non-"stench of a grease pit about to catch fire" air, and felt at peace with her decisions...all of them.

While her Gran had been alive, she'd been mostly fine living in the dreamworld of politeness, decorum, and finite social rules that had governed a previous generation, but times had changed. It had taken her a while, but she'd eventually caught up with most of those changes, and in due time had become her own woman. She might still be Adele's granddaughter and Jason's sister, but she was so much more than that, and was damn glad to prove it, if only to herself.

She could indeed be a polite Southern belle, but she'd learned recently that polite Southern belles could be made of steel, refined by hard times and yet still giving the appearance of pretty decorum.

She shrugged her shoulders as she exited Merlotte's smelly lot and turned her car toward home. She had an exciting new future waiting on her tonight if she would just be brave enough to accept it.

.

~Mer

.

A/N: Since the co-conspirators of this story have lives and pets and squirrelly little muse-creatures which may or may not interrupt the muses referenced in our name, and since each chapter depends on the chapter written before it,...this is my long-winded way of saying that we have no set posting schedule. We'll post'em as we write them, and hope you enjoy.

.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N All characters are based on those created by Charlaine Harris and HBO. No infringement is intended.

Dodge and Chase

Pam's voice came from behind where Eric stood on the rooftop of Fangtasia.

"What did you do, go down here this morning?" she asked incredulously. She could not remember an evening when he had arrived at the club before she did, and as it was less than thirty minutes after sunset, she assumed Eric had not rested in his home.

He ignored her and crouched down, surveying the parking lot. It had not been his intention to remain at the club. Once Pam had left after closing the bar, Eric found himself in his office, accompanied by the only blonde waitress he could find. What should have been a routine and somewhat satisfying experience had turned into a fiasco. The girl looked wrong, sounded wrong, smelled wrong and failed to hold his interest, though not for lack of trying. Furious with himself and for having to glamor the crying wreck bent over his desk out of what was obviously not going to happen, he had stood in the then-empty main room of the club, staring at the spot in which Sookie had sat hours before.

"I had no choice," he grumbled, standing up again. "What did you find?"

"Nothing interesting. She's squeaky clean as far as I can tell." Pam sighed unnecessarily as she came to stand beside him. "Not many to miss her, if that's your concern," she added, though she was coming to realize that it was not.

"What of Merlotte?"

Pam shrugged. "She no longer works for him. As for the shifter himself, you know as much of him as I do. Miss Stackhouse has been living from her ridiculously meager savings."

Eric glanced at Pam and frowned. "She's going to take the job."

"Is that not the point?"

It had been, when he and Pam had placed the ad. "It is," he replied.

Pam did not think he seemed sure. "Hire someone else, Eric. It does not have to be her."

He turned to face her fully and crossed his arms. "I believe it does."

"She's affecting your judgement," Pam hissed. "This is your Maker we're talking about-"

"Enough."

"You wish to send someone out there, for whom you have this mysterious hard-on-"

"I said enough!" he barked, his voice loud enough to disturb the patrons standing in line below, forcing them to crane their necks to see who was on the roof.

Eric grabbed Pam roughly and flew them both to the rear entrance of the club before dragging her with him to his office. "I will not allow any harm to come to her!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Pam seethed. "Your last day man died, Eric! For all we know, it could have been Godric himself who drained him!" While Pam could not have cared less about another dead human, she now knew a particular human her Maker would care about very much, should she end up dead.

"I will go with her," he said quietly.

"Then why not go yourself?" Pam demanded. "Have we not been through this? What is she going to find for you, that you could not find yourself?"

"I cannot, it is not my place!" he said angrily.

"Were something wrong with you, Master," she said, emphasizing the word, "I would seek you out myself!" They had argued the point before, many times, and it only became more and more frustrating for her.

"You are not me, and I am not Godric."

"And thank fuck for that!" she replied, throwing her hands in the air. Pam snarled and marched to the door of his office, flinging it open to find a very startled Sookie with her fist poised, ready to knock. "Well, look who showed, just in the nick-"

"Pam!" Eric yelled, causing both the women to flinch. "You will apologize and leave."

"My sincerest apologies, Miss Stackhouse," Pam said sweetly, and Sookie nodded, slowly lowering her hand. "If you'll excuse me?"

Sookie hastily stepped aside and stared after the vampire as she darted down the hall. "Sorry," Sookie said softly. "The bartender sent me back..."

"Sit," Eric said brusquely and stalked to his desk. He quickly brushed some papers into one of the drawers and slapped shut the computer, catching sight of Sookie as he did so. He felt his anger dissipate as he watched her nervously smooth out the skirt of the sundress she wore and glance around his office.

"Hey," she said kindly, once she noticed him watching. "Everything okay?"

Eric chuckled and slowly shook his head. "I am sure you sense that everything is not 'okay.'"

"What were y'all arguing about?" she asked hesitantly.

"Work," he replied vaguely.

"Do you still want to discuss the job, or should I come back another time?"

Eric wondered if Sookie would allow him to discuss the job with her perched on his lap. He knew how her soft backside would feel, resting on top of him. "We will discuss it now."

"Oh...okay."

They stared at each other for a moment, and Eric caught himself unintentionally attempting to glamor her into coming across the room to him. He was about to stop, when he realized Sookie did not appear to be affected. Eric immediately stood and began to move toward her.

"Eric?" she asked nervously. "What are you doing?" There was a tickling sensation in the back of her head, and her palms began to sweat. He had reached the couch and stood over her, glaring. "What are you...what?" She was as far back in her seat as possible with nowhere else to go.

"Look at me," he commanded, and she did, for a second, before averting her eyes and instead searching for an escape. "Look at me!"

"No! Stop! Whatever you're doing, just...stop!" Sookie was almost in tears, confused by Eric's sudden change in demeanor and embarrassed with herself.

Immediately he stepped back, amazed, as he had never encountered a human he could not persuade or hypnotize. "You are human, yes?" he asked seriously.

"What?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Am I human?"

Eric could not get into her head, and that fascinated him. He wondered if it were just with him, or was she that way with all vampires? He did not plan on asking Pam to test any theories. "I have frightened you," he said matter-of-factly. Perhaps it did not matter that he couldn't glamor her, he could probably scare her into doing anything he wanted. "I apologize."

Sookie stared, open-mouthed, at the tall vampire in front of her. "Is this what it's like all the time?' she asked, gesturing to him and the door. "Are you and Pam always like this?"

"Only around you, it seems," he replied, smirking. He cautiously moved closer, extending his hand and smiling. "Come."

"Come where?" she asked suspiciously and eye-balled his hand.

"I will not harm you," he said seriously. "Come. We will get you a drink."

Sookie tamped down her anxiety at what had happened in the office as she followed Eric to the same booth as the night before. There had been something going on in her head back there, and she was sure Eric had been the one responsible. He hadn't looked too happy about it either, though he had apologized for making her uncomfortable.

At first Sookie had thought he would touch her, that his advance was sexual. The strange sensations in her head, though, had confused her, and she had soon become mortified at her body's reaction to him, whatever he was trying to do. Had it gone on one second longer, she was sure she would have burst into tears, and that would have been the end to her non-existent new career.

She slid into the booth, and was surprised to find Eric sitting down next to her. "Is Pam joining us?"

Eric glanced at the bar and shook his head. "No, I do not believe so."

Sookie swallowed and tried to subtly move away from him, but his size made it impossible to not be touching some part of him. "Can I get a drink?" she blurted, thinking there was no way she would make it through the weird evening without some help.

"Certainly."

Within the minute, something was brought for her to the table, and Sookie downed half of it appreciatively. "Thanks," she said, wiping her mouth. It tasted tart and fruity, and it went down probably a little too easily.

Eric seemed content to sit by her and watch over the room, and Sookie was content to finish her drink and start on the fresh one that arrived soon after. He really was something to look at, and she couldn't help but sneak glances at him when he wasn't looking. Even if nothing came of the job, at least her new boss was easy on the eyes.

"Oh, my gosh," she exclaimed. "I didn't tell you I want the job!"

Eric laughed and slipped his cool hand over her bare knee to squeeze it. "You mean you are not here to simply enjoy my company?" he asked dryly.

"I do enjoy your company!" she said sincerely, if a little too loudly, before clapping her hand over her mouth. "I don't drink much," she admitted.

"I can tell." His cool fingertips grazed the inside of her thigh ever so slightly as he withdrew his hand. "I still wish for you to give it the week, before making your commitment." It was a standard procedure he used with human employees, as opposed to the three month period to which they were accustomed. It did not take a vampire three months to figure out the intentions of a human employee, and it would not take Eric a week to know he would not let Sookie go.

"Alright," she said agreeably. "Should I start tomorrow?"

"You started the moment you pointed out the underage women in the bar last night," he said smoothly. "Pam has already placed you on my payroll."

Sookie was confused, but the word payroll helped her to focus. "Do you offer benefits?"

Eric chuckled darkly and didn't bother to keep his fangs from clicking down. "I can offer many benefits, Miss Stackhouse."

"Wow," she said in awe, staring at his mouth. "Even dental?" Her cheeks turned bright red and her eyes widened. "Oh, my God, ignore me!" Never had the sight of someone's teeth caused her to reflexively cross her legs.

"Yes, you will receive the information on Fangtasia's health plan," he said, resisting the urge to show Sookie the benefits of his mouth. He needed to redirect the conversation, as his usually straightforward plans of action tended more and more to veer wildly when Miss Stackhouse was involved. "We will also come up with a schedule of your hours," Eric went on, though in his mind she would be at his disposal twenty-four hours a day, every day.

Sookie tried to sit up straighter in her seat and regain some composure. "Right. We haven't discussed salary, either." She already knew the waitresses at Eric's club were paid slightly above minimum wage, which had impressed her, and that the tips were plentiful, which had surprised her. Fangtasia was definitely not Merlotte's.

"By definition, as my personal assistant, you will be always be on the clock."

She would have to take Eric at his word, as she'd never been a personal assistant, or known someone who had one. "Okay."

"You will keep track of the details," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "The hours you are actively completing what's asked of you."

"Alright," Sookie said agreeably. "Would that be, like, here?"

"Perhaps. I may need you to run errands. Or I may require your presence at my home." Eric surprised himself with his statement, as his previous assistant had never once set foot anywhere near Eric's resting place. "For that, you will be paid fifty."

"Dollars?" she asked, choking on the sip of drink she had attempted to swallow.

"Yes."

"Per errand?" she clarified. Surely she hadn't heard him right.

"Per hour." Eric looked down at Sookie and frowned. "Is that inadequate?" He had paid the late Bobby Burnham less than half that, but perhaps Eric should have quadrupled the amount. Since he could not glamor her, he assumed financially enticing her would improve his chances with securing her loyalty. "You will be compensated for travelling, as well."

"Deal!" Sookie squeaked, nearly knocking over her drink. "Deal, no, sounds good. It's...yeah, perfect. I'll, uh...I'll sign the papers...whenever..." Her hands shook with relief badly enough that she tried to hide them in her lap under the table. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Dress code! Is there something I should wear?" Sookie hadn't noticed anyone in a Fangtasia t-shirt, and she couldn't imagine running around for Eric in any of the skimpy get-ups the waitresses were barely wearing. Even Pam's clingy, black, Halloween-inspired dress seemed inappropriate.

He glanced at the view of her cleavage afforded him from his height and smirked. "I prefer you the way you look now." Sookie appeared, to Eric, innocent and healthy. She looked human. He was attracted to her in a way that was different for him, and he had no desire to alter her appeal.

Sookie blinked and glanced down at her dress. She'd had no idea what to wear that evening, but it had been so muggy, and it was one of her nicer summer sundresses. Pairing it with strappy sandals, she'd figured she looked dressy enough for a casual evening out as opposed to an afternoon barbeque. "Okay."

"Sookie..." Eric started, before gazing across the room and falling silent for a moment. "What has been your experience with vampires?"

She tried not to snort as she finished her drink. "Well...there's you and Pam," she said earnestly. Sookie tried not to stare at the handful of other ones around the room. "I've got no issues with them. With you. Any of you," she stammered. "Is that what you mean?"

It wasn't. Something about Sookie was different. He sensed it, Pam sensed it, and if that were the case, Eric knew other vampires would sense it, as well. "We will discuss it another time," he promised. The vampires under him, the Sheriff of Area 5, would recognize that she was at the very least, part of his retinue. Her presence with him the last two evenings in a row would alert those closest to Eric, that she was his. He could probably avoid a public declaration for some time, depending on how he decided to best utilize her.

Eric casually stretched his arm around her, resting it on the back of the seat they shared. "This will be enough," he said reassuringly, ignoring the confused look on Sookie's face. "For now."


	4. Chapter 4

Dodge and Chase Chapter 4

A loud banging at the front door startled Sookie awake the next morning. Grumbling and cursing whatever it was she'd been drinking the night before, she hastily put on and tied her robe as she stumbled through the house.

The loud banging started up again just as she unlocked and jerked the door open.

"What!? Geez, let me get to the door before you break it down already."

The medium height, sandy-haired man smirking on the other side of the door tried to look appropriately apologetic in his well-tailored suit. "I'm sorry, miss, but I've been knocking for five minutes already. Are you Sookie Stackhouse?"

"What would you have done if I hadn't been home, kept banging all day long? And yes, I'm Sookie Stackhouse."

Her glare telling him that she wasn't the least bit impressed with his custom tailored suit and perfectly coifed hair, the man continued with barely repressed self-importance. "Yes, well, um, Ms. Stackhouse, I'm Bart Johnson from Johnson Lexus in Shreveport, and I'm here to deliver your new Lexus LX 570 SUV in Nebula Gray Pearl." He proudly waved his hand toward the vehicle parked in the part of the driveway nearest her front door. "It comes fully loaded with a back-up camera and..."

"Why are you and that vehicle _here_?" Sookie just wanted the man to hurry up with whatever it was so she could go back to bed, or brush her teeth, or both. What _had_ she been drinking the night before?

Bart huffed..._he_ was _not_ accustomed to being interrupted once he was in "spill mode" on one of his precious vehicles. He turned and nodded to Jennifer, his accomplice for the mission who would be driving him back to the car lot. She reached into the new vehicle, grabbed a gift bag, and promptly approached the porch.

Sookie gingerly took the proffered gift bag from the lady whose kind thoughts reflected her sympathy toward the pretty blonde who had obviously been woken up by her boss's enthusiastic pounding on the door.

"I believe Mr. Northman left you a card inside, Ms. Stackhouse." Sookie nodded her thanks to the younger woman and drew a card from the bag.

_Ms. Sookie Stackhouse,_

_One of the benefits of your new position includes a company car as well as a company cell phone which has already been programmed._

_Report with both to Chez Louis tonight at 9 pm._

_Eric Northman_

_PS: You have an atrocious singing voice when you are inebriated. You may either drink, or sing, while in my presence, but please do not attempt both at the same time._

A company car? And a company cell phone? She didn't recall Eri...Mr. Northman saying anything about either last night. During her third re-read of the note, Sookie heard a throat clearing. She looked up to see Bart staring down at her.

"Everything should be in the bag. Enjoy your new Lexus LX 570 SUV." After nodding at her, he nodded to his assistant, and they promptly left.

A few minutes later Sookie closed her mouth, stopped glaring at the new vehicle, and finally went back inside.

An hour later she was still sitting at her kitchen table sipping her coffee and staring at the keys in her hand. She remembered that Eri...Mr. Northman...*sigh*...Eric had driven her home the night before. She had switched to ginger ale after the third drink, but whatever was in those drinks was still potent enough that Eric had not considered her sober enough to drive herself home even three hours after her last drink.

She giggled a little at the memory of him trying to fold his huge body into her car...then giggled again at the memory of him tying to unfold himself to get back out. It wtill wasn't clear where or how his long legs had fit. She got the idea that Eric was distinctly unimpressed with her old but faithful car...which explained the beautiful new Lexus in her driveway.

Then she cringed as the overtly enthusiastic hug she'd given him in "thanks for the drive" came to her in its full glory. She'd felt him stiffen in surprise...then she'd felt another part of him stiffen in obvious appreciation of the gesture. Blushing furiously, Sookie rose to begin cleaning her still-clean house even as she wondered how Eric had gotten home last night.

After she finished dusting her bedroom, she remembered that she still hadn't looked at her new phone. She knew that they needed to be charged because she'd heard so many people complaining about their batteries dying. Quietly excited since she'd never been able to afford a cell phone on her meager waitressing tips, Sookie took the phone out, then spied an envelope in the bag.

She grabbed a kitchen knife, and a glass of iced tea, and sliced the envelope open. The enclosed letter, also signed by Eric, stated that the $500 in the envelope was her preliminary clothing allowance and was to be used to contribute to her current style of wardrobe.

Slightly overwhelmed by the sudden bounty, Sookie decided to call her friend Tara who had her own clothing shop. From what she remembered, her friend carried better quality clothing in styles that she, and apparently Eric, preferred. She would love to give her friend some much-needed business and would enjoy a long-overdue chat with her.

They quickly agreed to meet at 3:00 pm, which gave Sookie enough time to work on her tan, shower, and return her unread library books before buying out Tara's shop.

Although it was slightly cool outside, Sookie was very glad to stretch out on her lounge chair and absorb some sun. She'd expected to doze off, and had set her portable alarm clock just in case, but instead found herself thinking over all the recent changes in her life.

Gran's passing had hit her hard, and she had made some life-altering decisions afterward. Then Sam, who she'd always considered to be a friend, had become Mr. Handsy. So, she'd abruptly quit Merlotte's. Even though she'd known that she wasn't going to be there forever, it was still a big change. And now...now she was working for a vampire doing...something.

She shifted uncomfortably at the thought that Eric still hadn't told her exactly what her duties would be. After the weird way he'd acted at the beginning of their night, the thought also frightened her a bit. She not only wondered what the duties would be, but also why Eric hadn't told her. She just hoped he wasn't part of some sort of vampire mafia. That was _all_ she needed...

A bit later the buzzing of her clock woke her enough to reset the clock and turn over. The second time the clock buzzed, she was grateful to be woken up from a crazy dream of Eric riding around in Z Z Top's old red car hanging out a window shooting people while wearing a pinstriped zoot suit and a bright green felt fedora.

Shaking her head at the bizarre dream, she hurried through her after-tan shower, grabbed her library books, and headed out...in her new SUV. It was love at first reverse, she thought as she turned in the yard to head down the driveway. The SUV's smooth ride, easy-to-decipher dash, and seat adjustability were the ultimate lure. She'd been planning on returning the vehicle to Eric and asking him to provide a much less ostentatious company car, but...nah. This one was perfect.

She stopped at the mailbox to collect the day's delivery, then, after dropping the books off, headed to Tara's.

When she parked in front of the store, she 'heard' that no one was inside except her friend.

"TAAARRRRAAA! Is anybody home in here?"

"Sookie? Hey!"

Tara stood up from straightening a rack of shoes toward the back of the store and met Sookie in the middle of the aisle with a big hug.

"So, you got a new job and a clothing allowance? How awesome is that?" Tara was very happy for her childhood friend. She was also glad that Sookie didn't smell like beer and burgers any more.

Almost two hours and a very long conversation later, Sookie loaded three large bags of new "slightly more formal" dresses, sundresses, skirts, blouses, trousers, knit tops, and shoes into her new SUV. Since she had no real idea of what all her upcoming duties might entail, she figured a couple pairs of on-sale jeans wouldn't hurt, either.

"Whoa! Where'd you get this bad boy?" Tara appraised the new vehicle with a concerned eye. She knew for a fact that waitressing at Merlotte's didn't pay _that_ great.

"My boss had it delivered to me this morning. It's one of the benefits of the job, he said. He also gave me this phone," Sookie replied as she hauled said phone from her purse.

Tara quirked a suspicious brow. "And what _else_ did Mr. Gorgeous Vampire Boss give you...or are you supposed to be _giving_ him something in return for all that?"

Sookie started to get angry at Tara and her suspicions, but she reconsidered. Tara had endured a hard life, and with the way her friend been raised, she couldn't blame her for being suspicious. Plus, Tara was right more often than not.

"I really don't think it's like that, Tara. As gorgeous as he is, and with what all I saw and 'heard' at the club, he has no shortage of women, and some men, throwing themselves at him every night that they're open. He certainly wouldn't have to fake a job, give expensive benefits like this, plus a clothing allowance, just to get in some girl's pants, not with the way those fangbangers are giving it away."

Tara nodded, but she wasn't convinced. Although she knew about Sookie's "curse" and all the unintended knowledge she'd gained because of it, she also knew that Sookie was a very innocent person at heart. Unless she read it from a person's head, Sookie wouldn't be able to spot a con until it bit her nose.

"Well, you just be careful, hon. You know better than most how people can be. Just because they're vampires don't mean they're devils, but it don't mean they're angels, either."

"I know, I know. I'll be careful, don't worry." She was glad she hadn't told Tara about meeting Eric at Chez Louis that night. Tara would have raised _both_ brows at that.

The friends exchanged long hugs and promises to talk more often, then Sookie headed back home to hang up and put away her new purchases. While she was in the store, she'd found the perfect dress to wear for the upcoming meeting. She already had the perfect heels and wrap to go with the violet blue, knee-length, spaghetti-strap dress.

By 6:30 pm Sookie was showered and primped, painted and polished, and had already eaten a light supper to tide herself over...and she still had two and a half hours to kill, not including driving time. Suddenly she realized that she didn't know where the restaurant was, so she looked up the number and called for directions.

At 7:00 pm, the dulcet tones of Billy Idol's Flesh for Fantasy blared forth from her purse. Startled, her heart pounding from the sudden intrusion on the low background noise from her tv, Sookie made a mad dash to her purse.

Cursing in frustration, it took her a minute but she finally figured out how to answer the phone.

"H-Hello?"

"I see you've found the phone, then. Is the vehicle to your satisfaction?"

"Eric! I was going to ask you to take it back and find a less expensive car for me to drive, but I have to tell you...I love it! I took it for a spin earlier today and it handles great!" She giggled as she remembered thinking how easy it would be to accumulate a book's worth of speeding tickets. Her old car protested mightily at barely 50 mph.

"And what might be causing my newest employee to giggle so delightfully?"

"I was just thinking about how easy it'd be to get a speeding ticket. My old car would barely hit 50 mph, but this one glides on up to 85 and you don't even notice it," she answered with a smile in her voice.

"Then perhaps I should consider adding vehicle insurance to your benefits package," the strong, sexy voice on the other end of the call said with fake resignation.

Abruptly Eric changed his tone. "I called to make sure you had directions to the meeting place tonight."

Puzzled by his suddenly business-like tone, Sookie nodded as if he could see her, and replied, "Yes, thank you. I called them earlier for directions."

**•0~*~*~*~*~*~•0•~*~*~*~*~*~0•**

"Good. Nine pm sharp, then."

Eric quickly ended the call and cursed himself quite inventively. What did _he_ care if she liked her brand new, fully loaded SUV? He'd only gotten it for her since there was no way he was ever going to try to fit his 6'5" frame into her little soup can of a so-called car again, much less risk being seen in such a disreputable rust bucket.

His position required the appearance of effortless luxury, which was the only reason he'd provided such a vehicle for her...his convenience. The need for an impeccable appearance was, of course, the only reason he'd granted her a clothing allowance. He'd noticed that while her clothing had been well-tended, it was neither new nor higher quality, and he would never allow an employee of his to shame him by wearing such sad clothing...or by driving a car that looked, and sounded, ready to throw a rod at any second, day or night.

The company cell phone was for his convenience, too. He'd been shocked when she'd let slip the evening before that she didn't have a cell phone. A beautiful woman out alone, especially at night, without such a basic safety necessity? Outrageous! But he really did need to be able to reach her at all times, he reminded himself.

Satisfied with his progress thus far, the tall Viking rose from his bed and enjoyed a long stretch before heading to the small kitchen in his secure quarters. After enduring a bottle of the odious True Blood, he entered his large bathroom for a shower.

He would normally have fed the night before, but hadn't had the opportunity since he spent the evening with the beautifully intoxicated yet oddly refreshing Sookie. It hadn't been his intention to spend the entire evening with her, but time had seemed to fly by, and when she wasn't entirely sober even three hours after her last sip of alcohol, he found he could not in good conscience allow her to drive her own self home.

Somehow he doubted that he'd be free to feed again this night, as well.

He had less than two hours to bathe and dress for his business meeting with his new employee, and he wanted to crank through some Area business before leaving, but the time constraint certainly didn't stop him from imagining showering with a specific blue-eyed blonde of his recent acquaintance.

~Mer


	5. Chapter 5

Dodge and Chase

Eric remained in his car, poised for the moment Sookie pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. He wondered that he'd allowed her to meet him there, and also that it had occurred to him that some part of him had expected instead to pick her up, so that she did not have to drive herself. He'd already received an earful from Pam, regarding the necessity of a 'working' dinner that did not involve working. Eric hadn't had an answer for her.

A sleek, new luxury SUV passed in front of him, and he caught sight of Sookie's long, blond hair. Eric quickly exited his car to beat her to the door. He chuckled as she locked and unlocked the vehicle several times, her face creased with worry. His laugh, however, dried up in his throat as Sookie caught sight of him.

"I love that car!" she exclaimed loudly, her enthusiasm giving her a bounce to her step that accentuated the bounce in her other body parts.

Eric unconsciously adjusted the collar of his shirt, smoothing his long fingers along his tie. There was no reason for it, in that vampires did not fidget, nor did this particular one give much thought to his appearance. "You like it?" he asked unnecessarily once she was in front of him.

Sookie's eyes widened and she beamed up at him. "Yes! In fact, you may never get it back from me!" she said happily, nudging him in the arm. She eyed him appreciatively in his suit and gently grasped the lapel of his jacket. "Don't you clean up nice?"

"You look...nice, as well." She looked beautiful, and that he wanted to tell her so gave him the same feeling he'd had the evening before when speaking with her on the phone. Eric was frequently finding himself reaching out to Sookie in unfamiliar ways, possibly ways he should not. When she'd mentioned over the phone the urge to speed in her new vehicle, he'd automatically offered to increase the insurance on it, to increase the protection on her life. When she complimented him on his attractiveness, he wanted to do the same with her. What was different for him, was that it was not coming from a place of taking, or a place of giving to get what he wanted. He didn't know what it was, but he wasn't sure he liked it, or trusted it.

"Thanks." Sookie stared up at his face. "Everything okay?"

"You ask that too often," he said quietly, holding open the door to usher her inside.

"Sorry," she replied and mentally scolded herself. She couldn't read him, and his vampire expressions were so subtle, she was finding herself at a loss as to how to act around him. The words 'more professionally' jumped into her mind, along with 'hands to yourself,' and 'no alcohol tonight.'

Eric silently offered her his arm and nodded to the maitre d'. They were led along the side of the main dining area, and Sookie immediately lowered her mental shields. There was an unsettling vibe about the place, and she couldn't figure it out. Something, or someone, to her left was producing a loud drone inside her head, and she gasped when it abruptly stopped as she passed, as did all the other mental hums she could hear.

Without thinking Sookie dropped Eric's arm and took a tiny step backward. She almost laughed at the invisible threshold she seemed to be crossing, the drone starting and stopping as she stepped back and forth, until she noticed Eric and the maitre d' watching her strange dance. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Heel...got stuck." She gave a fake yank to her foot and smiled. "I'm good."

Their table was private and intimate, hidden as most of the them were, by an ornate screen and several plants. Sookie immediately dipped her red face behind her menu and searched for something to order. Why anyone would put up with her, she didn't know, and she was grateful that Eric seemed to have such impeccable manners, that he probably wouldn't fire her in public.

"Sookie," he said softly, and she lowered the menu. He glanced at the hovering waiter she hadn't noticed and raised an eyebrow. "Something to drink?"

"Sparkling water would be fine," she said softly, returning her eyes to the French words in front of her. Growing up in Louisiana had at least given her the ability to safely choose at an entree, and she was suddenly grateful she wasn't a vegetarian. The waiter returned with her drink and a smaller menu for Eric, politely nodding as she stumbled her way through her order. She was pretty sure she'd asked for chicken. Her jaw almost dropped when Eric engaged the waiter in a lengthier conversation, entirely in French, regarding something on his menu.

The expression on Sookie's face threw him. "Do you wish to change your order?" Eric asked, ready to summon back the waiter.

"How many languages do you speak?"

He lifted his fingers from the table and half-shrugged. "Too many. Why?"

Sookie took a good look at the handsome man in front of her. She wondered who he really was and what his life had been like. She realized just how little she knew, not only of vampires, but of him. While Eric looked to be about Sookie's age, his mannerisms and looks were definitely not. Most of all, she wondered why she was there.

"No reason," she lied. Eric was her new boss, and he had asked her to a business dinner, and she was going to act right and do her job. "This restaurant is really nice."

"I am pleased you like it."

'Like' was not the word she would have used, but she smiled anyway. "It's different."

"How so?" he asked.

Sookie's thoughts ran from the odd mental signatures she'd picked up, to the apparent 'dead zone' they'd walked through that blocked her telepathy, to the overall weird feeling surrounding the whole place. She wondered where Eric would like to her start. "They serve blood," she said, finally coming up with something. "That must be nice for you." And since the choices came with their own menu, Sookie was willing to bet there was more than just TrueBlood offered.

"I suppose it is." Eric cocked his head as if trying to solve something. "What happened on the way to our table, Sookie?"

"Huh?" she asked, stalling. "When I got stuck?"

She had appeared, to Eric, to be stuck, but not to the floor. If anything, he would have guessed she was listening to something, as if trying to fine-tune a radio signal that wasn't clear. He wondered if Sookie had noticed that not only were most of the other patrons not visible, the magic of the restaurant made most conversations inaudible, as well. Eric also knew, that if Sookie were honestly relaxed and enjoying the place, she would say so.

"Perhaps you should be more careful," he observed.

"Um, I should," she agreed. They both stared at each other until they were interrupted by the arrival of their meals.

Eric watched with pleasure as Sookie began to eat. "That dish historically was prepared with blood," he said casually, gesturing to her coq au vin.

Sookie swallowed the food in her mouth and grinned. "Still is, in some places," she said. "I grew up poor on a farm, Eric. You're not gonna scare me with the things humans are willing to eat." She pointed to the glasses in front of him. "I hear that's prepared with blood, too."

His loud laughter surprised her, and she held her napkin up to her mouth to avoid spitting her food on him. "So I will not scare you with the things vampires are willing to eat?" he asked, amused.

Sookie dabbed at the tears in her eyes from nearly choking and cleared her throat. "Is it good, then?" she asked.

Eric nodded slowly and eyed the glasses. "The vessel is wrong," he started, waggling his eyebrows at her, "but the taste is actually quite good."

"Better from the source?" she asked.

"Indeed." A still liquid in a cup did not compare to the pulsatile blood pumping from an artery. "Perhaps you could compare it to the orgasm you experience with masturbation, as opposed to the type experienced during-"

That time Sookie was not quick enough with her napkin, but thankfully she had only been sipping her water. "Eric!"

"I imagine that is how you might sound, as well," he said, pretending to be oblivious to her embarrassment.

Sookie stared at him hard, but she was unable to come up with the emotions she usually had when someone made an inappropriate sexual comment around her. Her final argument with Sam flashed through her mind, but there was none of the anger or disgust she'd felt that day. On the contrary, a part of her wanted to smartly ask Eric if he were offering, and another part of her wisely told the other part to shut up.

"Are you imagining?" he whispered, smirking at her dazed expression.

"Is this...um, is this how you are with all your employees?" she asked honestly. Sookie knew most of his female ones had slept with him, so she wondered if this were his method. She couldn't imagine he needed one, and she'd certainly not seen any memories of a shared meal or conversation.

Eric snorted. "No." He had no interest in bantering with the humans who worked for him at Fangtasia, or any of his businesses, nor had he ever had the urge to take one somewhere private for a meal with the intent of spending time with her.

They both looked at each other again, their frowns mirroring the other's. "Shall we leave?" he offered.

"Sure," she agreed. It wasn't until they approached Sookie's car that either spoke. "I'm sorry we didn't get much done."

Eric snatched the keys from her hands and swiftly unlocked and opened the passenger door. "We will continue our discussion at the club," he said briskly.

"Are you driving my-"

Her words were cut off by the slamming of the door, and she gasped at Eric's sudden appearance in the driver's seat. "I prefer to drive myself."

"I can see that," she said peevishly. They arrived at Fangtasia within minutes, thanks to Eric's maniacal driving, and Sookie contemplated kissing the asphalt as she eagerly tumbled from the vehicle.

"I expect you to park here," Eric announced, pointing to one of the three other parking spaces by the side of the building. "One of them will always remain empty for you."

The rear door of the building swung open before Sookie could comment, and Pam appeared, scowling. Eric brushed past her, and she quickly turned to follow. Both reached the end of the hallway before realizing that Sookie was not with them.

The two of them zipped back, crowding the doorway to see her still standing in the parking lot, a confused and somewhat upset look on her face.

"Is she leaking?" Pam asked.

"Sookie?"

She glanced between them and back to her car before throwing her hands up in frustration. "What the hell am I doing here?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"You are working," Eric said, looking to Pam for confirmation, who nodded.

"Doing what?" Sookie asked, her voice shrill. "We go to dinner, suddenly we're leaving, you're acting all weird, hijacking my car, nearly killing us to get here. You're telling me where to park, then the two of you hustle off, practically slamming the door in my face!"

"Perhaps we should bring her inside," Pam suggested lowly.

"Leave us," Eric said, waving her off. "Sookie..."

"That restaurant was strange," she said defensively as he slowly approached her.

"I see," he said calmly, holding out his hand to her.

"But the food was good."

"It was," he agreed, smiling at the feel of her warm hand in his cool one.

"I didn't mean to say you were weird."

"Of course not." Eric had managed to get her back through the door, and the tension he had felt in his chest when he thought she had left released.

"I promise I can do this," Sookie said solemnly. "I'm sorry for freaking out back there."

"You are used to having a schedule, and knowing what is expected of you," he replied. It was something he would have to work on, as he would be content to simply have her follow him around while he was up for the night. "You expect to work, it is nothing for which you should apologize."

"You said to give it a week, and here I am throwing a fit the second day."

Eric laughed and opened the door to his office. "If this is you 'throwing a fit,' I will not have any problems with your behavior." He gestured for her to sit on the couch that lined one of the walls as he took a seat at his desk and began typing at his computer. A few minutes later he pulled something from his printer and brought it to her, sitting next to her on the couch. "Your schedule."

Sookie scanned the paper, nodding as she read it. "Five nights a week?" she asked.

"We are closed Sundays, and you may take any other evening off, if you desire, as long as I do not have more urgent matters for you to attend." He planned on needing her urgently every evening.

"Only five hours a night?" While it was great pay, Sookie had expected to work more than a part-time schedule.

"I may have things for you to do during the day, or I may expect you to stay longer on any given evening." That, too, was guaranteed, as far as Eric was concerned.

"Well, I'm available more than this, so don't be afraid to call me."

He wouldn't. "Excellent."

"Thanks for this," she said sincerely. "It helps."

"We will join Pam out at the bar. The more you are seen, the better...acclimated you will become."

"Seen by whom?" Sookie asked. "And can you walk a little slower?" she huffed, struggling to keep up with Eric's long strides.

He abruptly stopped in front of her, producing a phone from his pocket and distractedly handing Sookie off to Pam, who was seated at the bar. "Watch her," he said, staring at the small screen in front of him, as he turned on his heel and retreated back down the hallway.

Sookie snickered and climbed onto the stool next to Pam, who indeed did seem to be 'watching' Sookie. "You guys..." she sighed, shaking her head.

Pam appraised her coolly. "What?" she asked, surprising herself that she was curious as to how Sookie would finish her thought. For a human, Pam supposed Sookie was the least like one. She also did not appear to be going anywhere soon, so Pam would tolerate Sookie, for her Master.

"In a way, it's fine," Sookie explained, staring at the signs posted above the busy bar. Signs, a bunch of them, reminding the vampires not to act like vampires. Sookie's upbringing had been drenched in manners, human manners. "I mean, I'll get used to it."

"You do not make sense."

"Like that!" Sookie said excitedly, pointing at Pam. "You tell it like it is! It just comes right out." It was sort of thrilling, the honesty and what some would see as rudeness. "I like it." Or at the very least, as she had said, she would get used to it. A lifetime of hearing what people thought, and then hearing what they said, which was usually very different, had always worn on Sookie. And while she doubted very much that vampires never lied, she was beginning to see that they didn't waste much time on things that didn't matter. "It's fine," she repeated.

"So glad that's cleared up," Pam said drily, motioning to the bartender. When their drinks appeared, she pushed Sookie's toward her. "What is wrong?" she asked reflexively at the expression on the girl's face. "Are you...ill?" Sookie's face was drained of all color, and her scent had become acrid. Eric would have a fit, if he hadn't already felt the jolt in his Child.

Sookie stared wide-eyed at the signs, her eyes fixed on the warning about forbidding blood exchanges on the premises. "Pam?" she asked.

The vampire's eyes followed Sookie's. "No harm will come to you here," she said seriously. Perhaps that was Sookie's concern, that she would be drained, as if Eric would allow anyone's fangs but his own near her. "Do not concern yourself with those-"

Sookie's warm hand on Pam's arm stopped her assurances mid-sentence. "P-Pam..." Sookie stammered. "I think we have a problem."


	6. Chapter 6

Dodge and Chase Chapter 6

"Come," Pam ordered brusquely as she placed her arm around Sookie's waist and propelled the trembling blonde through the crowd toward Eric's office. The sudden change in her demeanor, as well as the unpleasant stench of the acrid waves of fear rolling off her, convinced Pam that she needed to bring this situation to Eric's attention immediately.

If something really was wrong with the human, and she didn't inform her Maker, he'd never let her live it down...possibly literally.

Sookie couldn't believe this was happening. Why, of all nights, did that horrible drainer have to be in the bar _tonight_? She really didn't want to expose herself, and had worked so hard for her entire life to keep her secret safe. Besides, there was no way of knowing what could come of this. Would her own life be in danger now? What would these vampires expect of her? How much could she trust them? But...there was no way she could keep quiet about _this_. The horrifying, revolting things she'd seen in that man's cruel, cruel mind...

After a perfunctory knock on his door, Pam strongly guided Sookie into Eric's office, and was promptly rewarded with a glare of displeasure from her Maker. One look at Sookie's face, however, had him quickly ending his call.

"What's wrong?"

Feeling trapped and torn, and guilty because she felt torn, Sookie was very glad the couch in Eric's office was so handy.

When she abruptly sat on the sofa instead of answering him, he turned his glare to his child and demanded succinctly, "Pamela?"

"I don't know, Eric. We were sitting at the bar talking when she suddenly..." Pam broke off when Sookie grabbed her arm.

Both vampires looked down at her and were startled to see a tear rolling down her cheek. Not knowing where the impetus for such an action came from, Pam nonetheless covered Sookie's hand with her own and patted it twice.

Eric knelt before the distraught blonde and took her other hand in his own. "Sookie," he demanded harshly since her tears caused the most discomfiting sensation in his chest. Then in a softer voice, he tried again, "Sookie, what is it? You are safe here. What is wrong?"

With difficulty Sookie attempted to calm herself down, then sniffed. Pam reached into a pocket hidden in her vamp-gear skirt and handed over a folded tissue. Momentarily startled out of her fearful reaction, Sookie took the tissue and gave Pam a puzzled look.

"We must always be prepared. Breathers tend to leak and smudge," she deadpanned.

Sookie gave a weak laugh as she dabbed at her face and nose. When the hand holding the tissue started trembling again, Pam sighed and quickly disappeared. Feeling embarrassed, terrified, and fighting a very strong urge to flee, Sookie did her best to memorize every wrinkle in the tissue.

Eric squeezed the hand he was still holding to gain her attention. What in seven hells was wrong with the girl? If someone had done something to her...

"Sookie, if you don't tell me what is wrong, I can't fix it, now can I. Whatever it is, we will keep you safe."

Straightening her shoulders and dabbing her nose one last time, Sookie looked Eric straight in the eyes. "Promise? No matter what?"

Mystified and intrigued by the entire situation, Eric nodded. For some reason the slight trembling in her lower lip was killing him. "Yes, I promise. Now, tell me what's going on." He struggled to keep his voice level. Coddling anyone, particularly a human, was never his strong suit, especially when his curiosity was killing him.

A moment later Pam returned, and handed Sookie an orange colored drink. "It's a screwdriver. Apparently it has something called vitamin C in it, so it's healthy. Drink."

After doing just that, Sookie sat the now half-empty glass to the side, and cleared her throat. She looked at Eric, pointedly glanced at Pam, then back to Eric.

"She will guard your secret as well. Now, damn it, what's going on?" Eric theorized that he had conquered several small villages with less effort.

Sookie took a deep breath, then dove in. "First of all, there's a man at a table out there, mid-twenties, has on an old black t-shirt and new black jeans. He's brown-haired, and wears wire-rimmed glasses. He's sitting alone toward the back, and he's a drainer."

Both vampires automatically bared their fangs and hissed at this revelation. A split-second later Pam disappeared through the door.

Eric, still kneeling, fangs still bared, raised up before her and gently grabbed her upper arms.

"Tell me how you knew this. Now."

Immediately realizing that he was unintentionally scaring her, he added a belated, "Please."

Sookie squeezed her eyes shut for a second, opened them back up to focus on his beautiful blue gaze, then threw caution to the wind when the floor didn't conveniently open up to swallow her.

"I'm a telepath."

Still holding her gaze with his own, Eric immediately stilled as only a vampire can for a _very_ long moment. Finally he nodded as if he had figured something out to his satisfaction, then stood up to quickly pace the small confines of the office.

"Eric?"

"What," he answered somewhat distractedly.

"There's more."

He whipped back around to face her. "More? What _else_ can you do," he demanded with deceptive calmness.

"Oh, not me. Her. That drainer I told you about? He has a female vampire in a room somewhere and they're draining her." Sookie's voice had risen in agitation and she took a moment to collect herself. "From what I could see in his mind, she's a little taller than me, has dark eyes and long, dark hair, and she's absolutely beautiful. She looks tan for a vampire," she paused for a minute, the continued with a shaky voice, "and that guy in the bar? He and a couple of other men captured her right outside this building."

"Felicia," he growled out. At her inquiring look, he clarified. "That call was from one of her nest mates to report her missing."

Sookie picked up her drink and finished it while Eric paced. With an intense glare in her direction, he suddenly broke the brief silence.

"Can you hear vampires?"

"No and thank God, too. It's bad enough hearing humans, even the fuzzy ones."

Sookie was fervently thankful that she couldn't read vampire minds. She couldn't imagine what kinds of thoughts they might have, but she could definitely imagine a much-shorter and quite painful future for herself if she _could_ read their minds.

At any rate, at this point she was just glad that Eric had retracted his fangs even if he did keep looking at her weird.

He stared intently at her for another very long moment, then broke eye contact to face the door. Seconds later Pam returned and stated quite happily, "The target is acquired and secured, Master."

He nodded, then stilled in thought.

"Sookie, how does your telepathy work?"

She sighed. The very few times anyone had shown any interest in her 'disability', well, _'hidden talent'_ as she was trying to consider it these days, was long ago and far away. But, as of tonight, her talent was no long quite so...hidden, anyway.

"It's hard to describe, but I'll try. I just...I hear what people are thinking, and sometimes if they're thinking about something that they've seen, I'll see that image in my mind as well. But whatever I hear, or see, it has to be something that's crossing their mind right that second."

"So you can only hear or see what they're thinking about in that moment? You can't search their memory?"

"Nope. Unless I'm blocking them with my shields, I only hear or see what's crossing their mind the second that I'm listening to them."

"Shields?" Pam couldn't help but ask. It seemed this little blonde bloodbag might be even more interesting than she'd previously thought. She sat down on the other end of the couch and turned so she could watch the proceedings.

"That's what I call them. It took me forever to learn how to try to block other people's thoughts, and even now they don't always block every thought, especially if I'm tired."

"And that's how you heard the drainer," Eric stated more than asked.

Sookie nodded, then blurted out as she stood up abruptly, "We need to help the woman they've got, this Felicia. They've got tubes running out of her arms, Eric!"

Pam cocked her head sideways, surprised that the human was worrying so much about a vampire she'd never even met. She was worried, too, of course. Felicia was a promising bartender.

Eric was surprised at Sookie's vehemence as well. From his thousand-plus years of experience, he knew that humans generally didn't care this much for others of their own kind, much less a vampire they didn't know. His Sookie was definitely proving to be one of a kind.

"Calm down, Sookie. We will retrieve Felicia. For now tell me again exactly what you heard from the drainer."

Feeling a little stronger and a bit calmer, Sookie stood up to pace while she recounted what she'd 'heard' to the two vampires giving her their unnervingly rapt attention. When she finished, Pam asked, "Can you, erm, "hear" anything from in here?"

Her small burst of energy didn't last long. Suddenly feeling the weight of the events of the evening, Sookie once again sat back down on the couch. She closed her eyes, folded her arms around her waist, and concentrated on scanning the humans in the bar area.

Noticing her exhaustion and regretting his part in causing it, Eric sat beside her and placed his hand on her knee. Sookie gasped, and her eyes flew up to meet his. Eric jerked his hand away, wondering if the contact somehow disturbed the telepath.

"Wow! No, wait, don't," Sookie cried disjointedly. She reached over and, to his shock, took his hand firmly in hers. She closed her eyes and refocused.

Sookie couldn't believe how much easier it was to focus when she was touching Eric. When he'd placed his hand on her knee, it seemed like a lot of the "background noise" suddenly just faded away, leaving the mental voices she wanted to hear even clearer. She was focusing so strongly that it took her a minute to notice that he was gently smoothing his thumb in small circles over the back of her hand.

Finally she opened her eyes and declared, "I didn't hear any other drainers, or anything else about Felicia, but there is a group of under-age girls...they're wearing black and dark purple fake leather...weird eyeliners...and all three of them have super-thin eyebrows." She glanced at Pam and shrugged. Teenage concepts of beauty eluded her.

Pam nodded and vamp-sped out of the office.

Eric leaned back beside her and kept hold of her hand. She wasn't sure he even realized that he was still rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, but she certainly wasn't going to complain.

"This telepathy...it's hard for you, isn't it?" His quiet voice interrupted the silence.

Sookie nodded. She was exhausted, confused, worried, thirsty, and starting to get hungry again. "Yeah, it is. It wears me out, and then I have to live with whatever I see or hear from someone else's brain."

Eric mentally shuddered. He could just imagine the foul miasma brewing in some people's minds, and hated to think of some of the things she'd seen or heard in her young life.

"And you've always had this gift? Even since you were a child?"

"Gift?" Sookie snorted. "Not hardly. But, yeah, I've been cursed since I can remember. I used to consider it a disability, and to some extent it still is since it can sometimes make my life so much harder than it would be without it, but I've been trying to think of it more as a hidden talent here lately. I don't guess it's so hidden anymore, though, is it," she finished dejectedly.

Eric turned to face her. "Sookie, I gave you my word, and I will keep it. Your secret is safe with me." He needed to erase that worried, hopeless look from her face.

Not completely believing him, yet not automatically doubting him, either, Sookie simply nodded.

Eric could sense her continuing doubts, but now wasn't the time to assuage them. He briefly squeezed her hand, the rose.

"I need to speak with Pam, then I'll drive you home."

.

~Mer

.


	7. Chapter 7

Dodge and Chase

Pam was on him, as soon as Eric closed his office door. "You are taking her home?" she spat. "You are letting her go?"

"Her telepathy does not extend to vampires," he replied coldly.

"So she says!"

"What images or threats did you send her way?" Eric snapped. He took a step closer to Pam and glared at her. "Because I can assure you, Sookie did not 'hear' anything from me."

Upon Sookie's admission, while he did believe what she said, he had not hesitated to mentally test her, and it had not appeared that she had received anything coming from his head. A part of him was relieved, not only that Sookie seemed to be telling them the truth about her telepathy, but that she also had not seen or heard any of the colorful things going through Eric's mind since they had met.

"We know nothing about her," Pam reasoned. "She could be with them."

Eric contemplated the idea and dismissed it. "As what, a spy? Sent here to dine with us?"

"She only dined with you, Eric. The ad was for a personal assistant, and here you are, taking her out to dinner!"

"Are you not the one who presumed her to be stupid?"

"Exactly! A snake in the grass! Do you think it is coincidence that just as she shows up, one of your staff is abducted? The vampire who happens to have been dating your recently drained day-man?"

Pam made an interesting point, but before Eric could respond, his office door flung open.

"You know," Sookie started, her hands on her hips, "even though y'all talk too quiet for me to hear you, I can still tell you're standing out here." She stared pointedly at both of them. "It's like two big holes, hovering outside the door."

"You can sense the presence of vampires?" Eric clarified, interested.

"I guess. I mean, yeah, I can tell where you are."

Pam was livid. "And you're okay with her being out there," she huffed, swinging her arm aside, "doing who knows what?"

"Who knows what where?" Sookie asked, confused. "What are you two arguing about? Are you firing me?" The thought made her panic.

Pam laughed and folded her arms across her chest. "Fire you? No, Sookie, we're considering finding you a permanent home next to your friend in the basement."

The look on Sookie's pale face kept Eric from backhanding his Child down the hallway. "You will close your mouth, and you will not say another word to her," he hissed at Pam, causing both women to flinch away from him. The situation had escalated too quickly, and Eric was grateful he had only ever turned one Child. Pam stepped back and leaned stiffly against the wall, her eyes on the floor.

"What is she talking about?" Sookie asked quietly. "Who's in the basement?"

"The drainer." He paused to study her, wondering if anything Pam had suggested were possible. There was one way to find out. "Come."

Sookie found herself flanked by the two vampires as they moved down another hallway. "Where are we going?" she asked nervously.

Eric punched several numbers into a keypad and opened a large door. "Down."

"Eric," she pleaded, her voice breaking. "I don't...I wouldn't..." She could feel Pam's cool hand on her back, keeping her moving. "Please!"

He turned to look at her, confused. "Why are you crying?" His eyes immediately shifted to Pam. "What have you done to her?" he demanded.

"She is afraid," Pam said simply.

"I told you I would not harm you," he said, pausing at the top of the steps.

"You told me you would take me home," she mumbled, embarrassedly wiping at her cheeks with shaky hands.

"And I will," Eric replied, taking her hand in his. "Sookie, I wish for you to read this man's mind." If it turned out the drainer knew her, Eric would deal with that then.

"I already did!" she protested. "I told you about him! I don't want to go down there!"

"I wonder why that would be?" Pam asked to no one in particular.

"Enough!" Eric shot her a warning look and turned his attention back to the frightened human clinging to his hand. "I will not force you. But if you intend to work for me, this is the type of situation in which you may be involved. Should you choose not to, know that there are many others of our kind, who will not offer you a choice."

Sookie blinked, not believing what he was implying. "So do it, or else?" she asked incredulously.

"For fuck's sake!" Pam blurted out. "As if he would allow anyone to come near you, let alone hurt you! Must we stand here and fucking debate this? Do your job, Sookie, and then you can get the hell out of here. Hurry up, before it's dawn, and we're all stuck in the basement!"

Sookie cringed at the idea and tried to straighten her dress. "Okay." She believed what Eric had said, that he wouldn't hurt her, and she wanted to believe Pam's words. Hadn't she agreed to take the job, vague as its description was? Hadn't she decided to grab onto her life with both hands and take it where she wanted it to go? What she couldn't remember, though, was seeing the interrogation of a drainer in the basement of a vampire club on her to-do list.

Eric nodded and led the way down the steps, opening another large door at the bottom. "What do you hear?" he asked seriously.

Sookie looked around, squinting into the darkness. "I can't see."

"He asked what you could hear," Pam said drily, switching on a light. There was little to see in the large, bare room. Utility cabinets lined one of the walls, and there was no furniture. Sookie's eyes adjusted to the brighter light and she gasped.

Sprawled on the floor lay the man, his ankle shackled, a large chain tethering him to the cement floor. Sookie pursed her lips to keep them from quivering and blinked rapidly. "Where exactly do you think he's going to go?" she asked carefully. Images of the vampire Felicia flickered through Sookie's memory, and she sadly realized, these vampires were no better than the drainers.

"Read him," Eric said, ignoring her question.

"He's unconscious."

"So you can't," Pam surmised.

Sookie wanted to remind Pam, that she wasn't supposed to speak a word, but instead she approached the figure on the floor. "Not like this."

"Convenient."

"Is he asleep, or did you do this?" Sookie asked, crouching look closer.

Pam snorted.."At some point along the way, he stopped struggling."

Sookie frowned at the vampire's bored tone. "All I told you, is that I saw images in his mind." She looked back at Eric and shook her head. "I know he's seen horrible things, but I don't know that it's him doing them."

"We can hash that out later," Pam suggested smoothly. "All we need right now is a name, perhaps an address."

Sookie yanked on the long chain attached to the man's belt, pulling out a wallet from his pocket. She fished out a small piece of plastic and stood back up. "Here," she said, flicking the license toward Pam, who deftly caught it. "I won't even charge you for that little piece of investigative work."

She marched past the two of them and was stopped by Eric's hand on her arm. "Don't," she said angrily, turning where she stood on the step. "I'll type up everything I can remember for you and send it to you."

"You are leaving?" they asked in unison.

Sookie glanced at her watch and smiled. "My five hours are up, Eric. Unless you have an urgent matter?"

Eric hid his smirk and pulled her car keys from his pocket. "I assume you wish to use the company car to drive home?"

"You would seriously refuse to let me use that car just to keep me here?" Sookie asked in disbelief, which brought a burst of laughter from Pam.

"You noticed the human chained to the floor, did you not?" she asked Sookie. "You two are priceless." Pam moved to the steps, whispering in Sookie's ear as she passed her. "Make sure you demand a raise," she advised, snickering as she left.

Sookie rubbed at her eyes and sighed. "I'll read him when he wakes up, Eric. I promise."

He waved her off and picked up her hand again, guiding her back up the steps. "I know that you will."

"I should get going."

"I will drive you."

"Eric..."

He handed Sookie her purse from his office and herded her through the back door to the car. Pam had been right, but for the wrong reason. Eric was not okay with Sookie being out there, but not because he didn't know what she was doing. He was concerned with what might be done to her. "Allow me to take you, to know that you arrived safely," he said, opening the car door for her.

Sookie was too tired to argue, so she agreed. "Thank you."

They were silent leaving Shreveport, both deep in thought. "You did well this evening," Eric said finally. He was impressed, and he knew the little he had seen that evening of Sookie's gift was a small glimpse of what she was capable.

"You think?" Sookie wasn't proud of her tears, or her fear.

"You are human," Eric said, as if it were an acceptable excuse for something. "This is all...new."

She snorted and shifted in the seat. "You think I don't know ugly, Eric?"

"You seemed shocked."

"To see the human chained to the floor?" she asked, mimicking Pam. "I wasn't shocked, I was disappointed." She regretted saying it, but it was the truth.

"I see."

"I shouldn't have said that. Sorry. I'm your employee, you don't need my approval."

Some part of him did. "I do not wish to unnecessarily harm anyone," he explained. "I am not like most Sheriff's." He was not like most vampires, his age alone attesting to that.

"Huh?" Sookie was sure he had compared himself to a Sheriff. "You're also a cop?"

"We have not discussed much, have we?" He was amazed, as close as he felt to this strange woman, they knew very little of each other. "I am not a 'cop.' It is a vampire title."

"Like Mr. or Mrs?"

Eric chuckled. "Were it that simple. No, like the leader or figurehead of a region. It is a political title."

Sookie let out a long 'oh.' "Like a mayor or governor. An official."

"Yes, like that. Although, I do enforce the law."

"Like a Sheriff," she said, suddenly understanding. "Oh."

"You still do not approve."

She shook her head and looked at him. "No, I do. Sort of. I mean, it makes more sense. So you're not actually taking the law into your own hands back there. It's your job." Sookie hadn't thought much about vampires, and that they might have come 'out of the coffin' with rules and ways of living all their own, but it did make sense to her.

Eric was relieved she understood so quickly. "It is my job. I am obligated to uphold our rules. And those of humans as they affect us," he added. "You read the signs behind the bar."

"I guess I'm not sure I understand your penalties," she admitted.

"They may be a bit harsher than you are used to," he agreed.

"Yeah." Sookie was surprised to see the sign to Bon Temps and laughed. "Should I bother to ask how you know to get to my house?"

"No." Within minutes, he parked in front of the farmhouse she called home and cut the engine. "There are things we must discuss."

"Did you want to come in?" she offered.

He did, but it was too close to dawn. "Another time." Sookie lived too far from him, in his opinion, but that discussion would have to wait. "Are you aware, that for a vampire to enter your home, it requires an invitation?"

"Yeah, I think I knew that."

"I would ask that you do not extend such an invitation to anyone but Pam or me."

Sookie shrugged, as she didn't know any other vampires. "Okay."

"To remove an invited vampire from your home, rescind the invitation."

"And they have to leave?"

"Yes, even against their will." Eric paused to see that Sookie understood. "Do you recall, the other night, when I commanded that you look at me?"

"I'd like to forget it."

"Regardless. I was attempting to glamor you." When Sookie looked at him blankly, he went on. "Vampires can mentally persuade humans to do our bidding."

"That is just...creepy. You were trying to do that to me?" she asked.

"It was unintentional. My point is, I was unable to do it. I do not believe you can be glamored."

"Well, good. Because it's rude."

"Well, good," he repeated, "as it will keep you alive." Her unease was palpable to him. "I would not reveal that, or your telepathy."

"No shit," she mumbled, and he laughed. "What have I gotten myself into, Eric?" she asked softly.

Eric smiled. "Nothing I can't get you out of," he promised.


	8. Chapter 8

Dodge and Chase, Chapter 8

Images of the man chained to the floor kept running through Sookie's mind after she finally gotten rid of Eric. The disturbing way _he_ kept blowing hot and cold kept time with the gruesome image until finally she revisited the first thought she'd had, that these vampires were no better than the drainers.

As she completed her nightly routines, she realized that she'd unintentionally placed more faith in Eric than he'd earned. Because he was so attractive, and because of the way he'd _sometimes_ acted toward her, she'd automatically assumed that he was one of the "good guys", that he was trustworthy and truly did have her best interests at heart, and had let down her natural guard.

That was her problem, she decided. She'd given him much too much credit without really knowing him at all. True, he had seemed to take a big interest in her, but for all intents and purposes he was nothing more than her boss, and hadn't known her well enough for it to be anything more than that.

He'd kept saying that he would protect her, but from what, and why _would_ she believe him? What proof had there been that he would lift a finger to help her out? She was just an employee. He certainly hadn't minded all-but forcing her to go down to the basement-slash-dungeon. He certainly hadn't minded getting in her face and scaring her. Sure, he'd told Pam to back off and not talk to her like that, but it wasn't like he'd done anything at all when she'd started back up again.

Yeah, she didn't know Eric from Adam's housecat, and had no true reason to trust him any farther than she could throw him, no matter how nice he looked or what his voice did to her girly parts.

Well, according to what _he_ said, in the vampire world he might actually _be_ one of the "good guys", but not in her human world, not now. Not after he'd tried to glamour her, and not after whatever he'd done to that man in the basement. Chained...like a rabid animal! Apparently the old "innocent until proven guilty" concept didn't apply with vampires.

But...the things she'd seen in the drainer's nasty mind were horrendous, and there was no way he could have been innocent, not if he'd stood around and witnessed the horrible things done to that female vampire and hadn't lifted a finger to help her.

She sat down at her kitchen table and made a list of everything she'd seen and heard from his mind, the few names she'd heard, and described the location as best she could. When she couldn't think of one more thing to write down, she fixed herself a cup of hot chocolate and retreated to her Gran's favorite chair.

Thoughts of Eric and all the ways he'd been with her kept drifting through her mind. He'd taken her out for a nice but useless dinner, yet he'd knowingly tried to scare and glamour her. She worried if she really could trust him to keep her telepathy a secret. Just because he _said_ he would didn't mean he _actually_ would. He'd _said_ she could go home, yet he had all-but forced her down into that horrible basement. Exactly how much did his word even mean? At that thought, she finally just went to bed.

Even her dreams wouldn't give her peace. She had nightmare after nightmare of Eric turning on her in the blink of an eye, of Pam egging him on and begging Eric to chain her up in the dungeon, of the drainer mistaking her for a vampire and kidnapping her...

Later the next afternoon she woke, hungry and tired and more than a little pissed off. She couldn't believe that Eric had forced her to try to read that man when he'd said he was letting her leave! He'd lied to her, and acted like she was supposed to be happy about it? And then he had the gall to keep her keys to make her let him drive?

If she didn't need the job so badly, and if she weren't worried about that Felicia chick, she swore she'd call in "quit" that very evening.

After a disappointing search for food in her nearly-bare cabinets and fridge, she made a grocery list, took a quick shower, and even though it was getting later, Sookie went on to the grocery store. If she didn't, her next meal would consist of oatmeal and celery.

Before going to the grocery store, she made a quick detour to the local hardware store, and had two copies of her SUV keys made. As luck would have it, they'd only the week before gotten in the special machine needed to make keys for a vehicle such as hers, and she was incredibly thankful. She just wanted to _see_ Eric try to hold her keys hostage again...

Early evening shoppers crowded the grocery store parking lot, but she lucked out and found a spot near the front. With a grin on her face, she quickly grabbed a shopping cart and headed for the produce section. Avoiding the celery, she aimed for the cucumbers, and in the process of picking through them, she reached for one at the same time as a much larger male hand reached for the same one.

She jerked her hand back at the same time he did, and she laughed up into some stunning green eyes. Those same green eyes quickly surveyed her attractive figure and at least tried not to linger too long on her tee-shirt encased bosom.

"Ladies first," the man said as he gestured toward the pile of cucumbers. Easily topping six feet tall, he had light blond hair that curled around the ends, a nice tan, broad shoulders and a trim waist. When his smile grew, so did hers.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she quipped back and pretended she wasn't blushing. She was strongly aware of his approving gaze as he watched her select the two cucumbers she wanted.

"Next," she invited him to make his own selections. After sharing a grin, she walked over to the tomatoes, and had just finished when he approached her side.

"Hummm...fancy meeting you here of all places," he teased as he grabbed two huge tomatoes in his large hand.

"You do realize that if we meet over at the broccoli, it will constitute a date, right?"

Sookie fought to control the raging blush staining her cheeks as she gazed into his handsome face. She gratefully noted the absence of any sort of smirk...and headed over to the broccoli.

An instant later, his deep voice asked, "So, what's your name? I haven't seen you around here before, and trust me, I'd have remembered seeing you."

"Sookie Stackhouse," she answered, then asked, "And you?"

"Preston Pardloe, at your service, ma'am," he bowed gracefully. "Please tell me you aren't going to actually _buy_ that broccoli, are you?" He gestured toward the wilted produce that was already turning a bit brown.

Laughing, Sookie just shook her head and turned her cart toward the canned goods aisles. "Nope, but I do have a bunch of other stuff to buy and not a lot of time to do it in, though."

"Really? Why's a gorgeous lady like you in a hurry?" He grabbed his own cart and kept pace with her as she quickly grabbed the few canned goods on her list.

"I've got to finish up here, take everything home, then get to work, and it's already getting later."

"You have to work tonight?" For some reason the thought didn't seem to sit well with him. "Where do you work?"

"Fangtasia," she answered distractedly as she looked through the pasta section and tried to decide between tri-color rotini, bow ties, or wagon wheels.

"The vampire bar?"

The displeasure in his voice drew her attention.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Nothing, really. Just be careful; you know how vampires can be."

"I know...believe me, I'm finding out, but it's a good job." She shivered as she remembered the things she'd rather forget, including a certain hot-and-cold running vampire of her recent acquaintance.

"May I?" Preston indicated the three boxes of pasta she was studying.

She shrugged, curious as to his intentions.

He plucked the box of bow tie-shaped pasta from her hands and put it back. She raised a brow in curiosity, and he explained. "Sometimes the part under the 'tie' doesn't cook evenly and is a bit chewier than the rest of the piece."

"Oh. But...they're so cute, though," she play-pouted.

"True, but so are the wagon wheels," he laughed.

She quickly placed the remaining boxes into her cart, and turned to the jarred sauces.

"Can I get your number," he blurted out suddenly.

Sookie smiled her approval, then handed him her phone. "Sorry, but I haven't had a chance to memorize my new number yet."

After getting her number and entering his own, Preston handed her the phone back.

"Since you're in a hurry I'll leave you be, but maybe I could call you sometime, or stop by if you're at work? I'm in Shreveport quite often."

She smiled broadly at his words. He was certainly attractive enough to warrant a second look...maybe even a third..., and it wasn't like she was dating anyone. She steadfastly refused to think about hot-and-cold running Erics, and nodded to Preston.

"I'd like that."

She turned to complete her shopping...and he did, too. They collided in the middle of the pasta aisle, and Sookie found herself suddenly held close to Preston's chest as he stopped her fall. His strong arms felt surprisingly good, she thought.

A moment later, after taking a loud sniff of her hair, he joked, "I don't know what kind of shampoo you use, but I like it!"

She could have sworn that he rubbed his cheek on her head, but as that made no sense to her, she shrugged it off. A second later he let her go after making sure she was steady on her feet.

"After that, you know, we really should go dancing sometime," he invited as he gazed down into her blue eyes.

With a laugh and a nod, Sookie agreed, then went on the hunt for toilet paper. She quickly finished her shopping trip, and by the time she'd taken everything home and put up the cold items, it was time to go. She jumped into the clothes she'd picked out the night before, and smirked.

She was purposefully wearing a pair of jeans and an older top since she had been _informed_ that she was to interrogate that disgusting drainer in the basement tonight, and she wasn't going to risk ruining one of her pretty dresses. Common sense told her that the area looked like a dungeon for a reason, and that it wasn't used _just_ for chaining up prisoners.

While she deplored the idea of reading the drainer's thoughts, sometime during the night she'd firmly decided that it had to be done. It didn't matter how hot and cold Eric seemed to act towards her, and it didn't matter how quickly Pam seemed to be able to turn on her - no vampire should have to suffer like she'd seen happen to Felicia. Torture was torture, no matter the species, and she was in a unique position to help.

The only thing truly bothering her at the moment was whether or not she could actually trust Eric or Pam, and if so, how much. Getting any further involved with Eric was completely out of the question...at least, not until she knew a lot more about him.

After arriving with only moments to spare, Sookie hurriedly tucked her keys into her purse, an extra key in a front pocket of her jeans, and her license in a back pocket.

She calmly entered Fangtasia with her head held high and her professionalism firmly in place...and walked straight into a leather-coated brick wall who took one sniff of her hair and growled.

"Where have you been, and who were you with?"

.


	9. Chapter 9

Dodge and Chase

Sookie took the smallest of steps backward and stared up at Eric, stunned. "What?" she asked dumbly.

Her scent. It was tainted. Before he could stop himself, Eric moved, too quickly for her to see, grazing every part of Sookie's body with his nose and mouth. She could only feel the cool breeze left by his movements and a tickling all over of her skin that traveled too quickly for her to react. He lingered last on Sookie's head and instinctively wrapped his large hands around her shoulders to hold her there.

"Who...who touched you? Who has been with you?" he grounded out, his emphasis on the word 'been.' Eric couldn't place the scent. His instinct had been fairy, but there were others. Animal perhaps, but most significantly, they were all male.

Sookie was shocked. "What is wrong with you?" she hissed, her eyes wildly looking around to see who had witnessed the spectacle Eric was making of her. "Let go of me!" Sookie's eyes smarted with humiliation, and she knew her temper was not far behind.

Eric leaned further over her, his eyes boring into hers. "You said you were unattached." When the sudden smell of fear filled the air, he released her.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened, but there were no words. There was nothing she was willing to say, in a room full of onlookers. The sight of Pam several feet away, smirking where she sat on one of the bar stools, snapped Sookie out of her stupor.

She stomped past Eric further into the bar, her angry steps leading her to his office without a second thought. Faced with the instinctual human response to danger, Sookie's body had chosen to fight.

Eric was already leaning against the closed door before she could turn around inside the office, effectively blocking her exit. He was pleased Sookie had not left the club, as he would not have wanted to drag her back inside in view of a parking lot full of humans. "Explain," he said, folding his arms across his broad chest.

"Explain what?" Sookie said, her voice rising.

"Where have you been?"

She pointed to the watch on her wrist, holding it up for him to see. "I'm here! You gave me this schedule!" It had been still light when she left Bon Temps, so Sookie couldn't understand his fascination with her whereabouts.

"Where were you earlier?"

She was confused. "Today?" she asked, and he nodded curtly. "Are you joking?" Her tone had become incredulous, as Sookie began to understand what Eric was asking. "I wasn't on the clock today, Eric, so I wasn't here," she said smartly. "That's where I was earlier."

Her deliberate evasion of his question, as well as her argumentative stance, were arousing to him. If only she didn't reek of another male. "Your scent is...not yours," he admitted.

"Well, I can't help that, can I?" Sookie suddenly remembered bouncing off a very handsome man earlier, whose face had been briefly buried in her hair. "Remind me to shower before coming into work," she said hotly.

"I will remind you, that you are not to be attached to anyone," he said smoothly.

"The way you're 'not attached' to anything in a skirt around here?" she retorted, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth. It was none of her business, the plentiful memories and images she had seen from too many female minds at Fangtasia to count.

"What I choose to do with the skirts-"

"Exactly!" Sookie blurted, pointing at him. "Is your business! Same goes for me, pal."

The thought that she had engaged in anything close to what Eric did to the humans in his club enraged him, as did the term 'pal.' "We have an agreement," he seethed.

"I'm not attached!" she shouted, exasperated. "You're my boss, Eric, not my father!" The thought shamed her, father or boss, that she was yelling at him. "I don't like this. I don't like...I'm not comfortable with this."

"With what?" Eric studied her, noticing her choice of clothing. "Why are you covered?"

"Huh?" Sookie saw he was looking at her clothes and glanced down. "Oh. I didn't know what to wear to, uh...to question the..."

"You still plan on cooperating?"

"Cooperating?" Sookie wondered if she needed a vampire dictionary to understand what the hell Eric was saying half the time. "I promised I'd read him."

"You also agreed to a dress code, and to the specifications of the job," he reminded her.

Sookie pushed down the urge to burst into tears of frustration and sank against Eric's desk behind her. The pride and excitement she'd felt at making some headway in her life were quickly crumbling around her at the hands of the strange vampire in front of her, and she wondered if the money were worth it. There was nothing for her at home, and now there seemed to be nothing for her at work, except for the pay. Sookie quickly scanned the floor beneath them with her mind and took a couple of deep breaths.

"He's awake," she said quietly.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes," she lied, pushing off the desk.

Eric stopped her from walking past him. "How do you wish to proceed?" he asked seriously. Her entire stance had withered in front of him, confusing him, and he wondered if she were equipped to handle the questioning. It would not matter to Eric if it were postponed, as the chained human was not going anywhere. His concern was with Felicia, though he doubted by the time they learned of her location, there would be anything left to save.

"What do you mean?" Sookie asked. It wasn't as if she read the minds of prisoners every day. "Go ahead and ask him what you want, and if it isn't working, I'll jump in." She frowned at the impassive look on Eric's face. "He's not going to think of an address. It doesn't work like that."

"How does it work?"

Sookie sighed, eager to leave his office. There was no desire for her to be in the basement, but there was something physically distracting about being alone with him. "It's not linear like that. It's more like...say you see someone in a green shirt...if you know him, then maybe you'll think about a conversation you had, or something you did with him..." She looked at Eric, who seemed fascinated. "But maybe instead, you'll think of that green toy box you had as a kid, or how you hate that shade of green. It could be a million things. That's what it's like. Sometimes it's pictures, you know, of the memories. Or maybe it's words. Sometimes both."

"It is amazing."

"Uh huh," she said sarcastically. "It's real amazing, listening to every weird thing that passes through every head."

"But you can turn it off," Eric said.

"Yes, thank goodness." The tension in the room had dropped considerably, and Sookie was grateful. "It's easier to talk to you like this."

"I know." Eric now understood, that if he wanted to know more about her, that if he expected to have or keep any part of Sookie Stackhouse, he would have to go about it much like her telepathy. He would have to be...less linear. "For legal purposes, we will abstain from any physical contact with the drainer in your presence."

"Seriously?" Sookie asked in disbelief. "You have to say you won't beat him while I'm there? Does that somehow make me less culpable in the fact that I know you are torturing a human being?"

"Who said we would beat him?" Eric asked, ignoring her other question. Of course he was protecting her from culpability, as much as he could. "You are drawing conclusions."

"Silly me." Sookie went back to Eric's desk and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. "Can I take notes?"

"You may do whatever you wish, as long as you read his mind."

"And don't talk to men, or wear anything but dresses," she mumbled sourly, trailing Eric from the office.

"So you were talking to a man," Eric said, his calm tone hiding his inner anger at her admission.

"Half the population, Boss." Sookie waited as he unlocked the inner door and noted a vampire inside the room with the drainer. "Pam in there?" she asked.

Eric nodded and pushed open the heavy door. The smell of urine and sweat hit Sookie immediately, and she cringed. "In through your mouth," Eric suggested, his cool breath tickling her ear.

A part of Sookie was relieved when she saw the man seated on a chair that hadn't been there the evening before, until she noted that in addition to the chain around his ankle, his hands were now cuffed behind his back. She swallowed thickly and took one of the other chairs left facing him.

Pam appeared in the chair next to her and dropped the license onto Sookie's pad of paper. "I believe you lost this," she said drily, crossing her legs and staring ahead.

"James Weston," Eric started, crossing the room to stand in front of the drainer.

Sookie glanced at the license to confirm that's who Eric was talking about. "Ugh," she whispered, honing in on James' mental correction of his name in his head. "He calls himself Jesse. Get it? Jesse James?" Pam shrugged, and Sookie rolled her eyes. If Sookie had a dollar for every Jesse James she'd ever met...

"What have you done with Felicia?" Eric demanded, and Sookie tried to hide her snicker. She knew James hadn't heard her, but apparently the vampires had.

"417 St. John Street," Sookie squeaked, clearing her throat. "That where you live?" Immediately, a house popped into his head, like Sookie was standing in front of it. There was a woman then, with a baby. In James' mind, he was talking to her on the porch steps. "How old's your daughter?" Sookie asked, scribbling furiously on her pad.

James was mad then, and he spit on the floor. "Ain't got a daughter," he snarled, but he was lying.

"That vampire was someone's daughter," Sookie said blandly, looking up at him.

"Why you even with them?" he asked, staring at her, wondering who Sookie was and how she even knew about the vampire. His mind went back in the room Sookie had seen before, to the image of Felicia chained down, her blood dripping from her. A man too similar to be anyone but James' relative was doing something to one of her arms.

"Your brother get you into this?" Sookie pressed. "Or do you just like to watch?" His thoughts were bad, dragging her down with him, but she didn't seem to be able to stop baiting him.

"You don't know anything," he said shakily. James knew he wasn't getting out of this, and he was cursing the day he agreed to do anything for his older brother.

"Right, cause Robbie doesn't need your help, does he?"

Pam was openly staring at Sookie, and Eric had slowly crept behind her. She felt his cool hands gently rest under her hair, on top of her shoulders, and she flinched at the improved clarity of the mind of the man in front of her. It may also have been from the way Eric's fingertips gently grazed her collarbones.

James' head slumped forward again, but his mind was anything but silent. There were two other men in the room in his memories, and behind them, a filthy window, its tattered shade ripped widely near the top. Sookie quickly jotted the name of the lit-up sign of the building that looked to be across the street, and she guessed wherever Felicia was, it was higher than the first floor.

"Jesse," Sookie said lightly. "There's a way out of this..."

"Bullshit."

"Why were you here last night? Who were you after?" Sookie already knew the answer, as she'd seen Pam in his mind the night before. So she was shocked, when Eric flashed through James' head. It was a picture he was looking at, held out by a man who clearly was not one of the drainers. His suit was cheap, but it was still a suit, down to the crappy tie and shiny pin.

"You know," she went on, matter-of-factly, "the police will be mostly interested in your brother. But us," Sookie said, gesturing to the vampires, "we're willing to look past that." That got James' attention, and some hissing from Pam and Eric, which Sookie ignored. "Think about it," she said simply, standing. "We'll be back."

Sookie was not surprised to find herself lifted by the armpits by the two vampires the minute they all hit the stairs and practically flown into Eric's office. "I think it's going pretty well," she said happily, settling onto the couch. "I like this. I like doing this."

Eric liked Sookie's demeanor more than when they had left the office, though he was far less alarmed than Pam. "What did you hear?" he asked impatiently.

"What did she hear?" Pam asked sharply. "Why did she offer him protection?"

"Huh?"

"That was not her meaning," Eric replied, talking over Sookie. "She was strategizing."

"She was ready to offer him a ride home!" Pam protested.

Sookie rapidly shook her head and held out her hands. "No! What? I don't even know where he lives! Well, I do...but that's not the point." She picked up the pad from her lap and waved it back and forth. "I was just doing, like, good cop, bad cop."

"I could not appreciate the bad cop," Pam observed, narrowing her eyes at Sookie.

"So," Sookie said, ignoring Pam and reading from her notes. "James, or Jesse, as he calls himself, has an older brother, Robbie. He's the one I actually saw draining Felicia. Oh, the room! Here's the sign across the street that you can see from it." She handed the pad to Eric and stared at the ceiling. "I'm guessing she's a couple of floors up, and the room doesn't look like someone's house, so maybe it's an apartment? It's real shabby."

Eric showed the pad to Pam and nodded. "There are two of those stores in Shreveport," she confirmed.

"Oh, good! You know where it is, because I was having a heck of a time trying to figure out what town-"

Pam interrupted Sookie before she could finish. "What is it we are willing to look past?" she demanded.

"It's not James who's behind this."

"Explain."

Sookie raised her eyebrows at Eric and took a deep breath. "You heard me ask why he was here last night?" she asked, and Eric nodded. "He was here for you, Eric. There was a man in his head, holding your picture, but he definitely wasn't one of the drainers."

Both vampires were silent as Sookie fidgeted with the tablet and pen. "I thought maybe it was a good time to stop. Give him something to think about. Maybe he'll give up a name, or something," she rambled on. "Not that he has to, since I've seen the guy's face."

Eric and Pam looked at each other immediately. "You would recognize him, if you saw him?" Eric asked. Humans were quite unreliable with recall, something all vampires used for their benefit.

"Well, yeah. It's in my head."

"We can locate the address," Pam said, speaking almost too quickly for Sookie to understand. "She can do the legwork during the day," Pam went on, gesturing to Sookie.

"Absolutely not," Eric replied.

"She is perfectly able to follow the paper trail. She might even see or hear something useful," Pam protested.

"She is not to go out during the day," Eric insisted.

"Wait, wait," Sookie interrupted. "I can do all that from a computer, and I don't mind making a drive-by or something. Pam's right, I don't even have to get close to hear something. If you guys know where this is, I can do it." Sookie found the idea of a stake-out exciting.

"No," Eric said with finality. "It is not necessary, nor do I require it." There would be no scenario in which Sookie sat anywhere near those drainers, alone in her car.

Both women looked at him skeptically. "Alright," Sookie agreed. "I'll see what I can dig up electronically."

"You were about to offer him something. What was it?"

"Right. See, James isn't real interested in this particular venture of his brother's. I think, if he thinks he can get out of this, he'll give up whomever's financing it. But really, the bigger question is, why are they targeting you?" Pam and Eric exchanged a look even Sookie couldn't miss. "Something you'd like to share?" Sookie suggested.

"There are many who dislike vampires, as I'm sure you are aware," Pam answered blandly.

"Hm, yeah. So much, that they carry around a picture? How dumb do you think I am?"

Eric stopped Pam before she could answer. "You are not stupid, we have established that." He considered how to answer Sookie without discussing his and Pam's concerns regarding his Maker, the death of his day man, and the now-probable death of the day man's vampire girlfriend, who also happened to work for Eric. That this group of drainers were most likely sponsored by someone carrying a picture of Eric only compounded the problem. "When we have something more concrete, there will be more to tell you," he said finally.

Sookie nodded her head slowly and crossed her hands over her lap. "I can only ask questions, based on what I know." It was a subtle reminder, that she couldn't get in, if they didn't let her.

"Understood."

The two stared at each other, wondering if the other truly did.


	10. Chapter 10

Dodge and Chase, Chapter 10

A/N: This chapter is brought late to you by homemade chicken broth, which enabled a human made bleary by allergies, bronchitis, and flumonia to somewhat concentrate on her fingers as she attempted that "creative thinking" thing. I hope it worked out well... ~Mer

•**0~*~*~*~*~*~•0•~*~*~*~*~*~0•**

Eric led Sookie back down to the basement and this time the smell was even worse. It seemed James had added to the stench, and she had to swallow back her gag. "Improved ventilation wouldn't be a bad idea, Boss," she muttered as she took her seat near the drainer.

Half an hour and not much new information later, Sookie wearily plopped down in Eric's booth and gladly ordered her old standby - a gin and tonic. She'd been making a point to try new drinks, but sometimes she just wanted the "tried and true" comforts.

She was glad that Eric and Pam had things to discuss in his office because she needed a chance to catch her breath. Using her telepathy on purpose was more tiring than she'd thought, but it was more rewarding, too.

While she hadn't seen any further references to the man in the cheap suit, she had discovered that James's brother Robbie was deeper into the draining business than they'd thought, and that he was knee-deep in debt. James himself really was looking for a way out...he simply wasn't looking all _that_ hard.

Felicia was the first vampire he'd been around while they were actively being drained, and the sickening realities of the situation were hard for him to stomach...but not so hard that he was willing to forego the "finder's fee" for bringing in Pam or Eric. James didn't like seeing the blood coming out of her body, but the fact that a vampire was being harmed didn't bother him a bit. He also had an odd addiction to comic books and Lana Turner. Both vampires had given her the oddest looks when she'd shared that tidbit.

Eric had surprised her several times during that half-hour. When the "interview" was over, instead of torturing the man or turning him over to the police, he'd set him free...sort of. Eric had decided to glamour James into forgetting his time spent in the basement, to botch any future attempts to capture a vampire, and to call him immediately with any new names or information. That he had also glamoured James into keenly fearing all vampires didn't surprise her.

She knew that James probably wouldn't last very long once he started acting on Eric's glamour, but couldn't bring herself to care all that much. From what she'd seen in his thoughts, he hadn't minded capturing vampires and knowing that they were being bled to death. He simply didn't want to watch it happening. She just hoped that he'd live long enough to give Eric a lot information before everything caught up with him.

Sookie contemplated Eric's most recent behavior while she traced designs in the condensation ring left by her drink. She couldn't figure out what exactly had changed between them, but something had. He was just as focused and intense as before, but somehow he seemed a bit less reserved toward her. Although he certainly hadn't apologized or said anything about it, for some indefinable reason she felt that he regretted the small bit of uncomfortable tension that had passed between them, at least a little. Maybe.

Earlier he'd been so insistent that she not try to find the building where Felicia was being kept, and that didn't make any sense to her. It would be so easy to narrow down the location since there were only two to choose from, and all she had to do was simply drive by and listen for the drainer's thoughts.

Although she wondered why Pam went from almost liking her to being overly-suspicious, even _she_ had seen the sense in letting Sookie put her PI talents to use. A couple of drive-bys is all it would take. Easy-peasy, she huffed to herself, then resumed listening to the people in the bar.

Catching the thoughts of two underage girls in the main area, Sookie looked around but didn't see Pam. She did catch Chow's eye, but, not wanting him to know of her "gift," she just shook her head slightly. Less than a minute later Pam blurred to the booth.

"What," her voice dripping with a combination of boredom and irritation.

Proud of herself for not jumping in surprise at her sudden appearance, Sookie leaned close to Pam, who took the hint and leaned in. "Two underage girls, both wearing red pleather, at that small table on the left side of the room. One has blonde hair, the other light brown."

Pam, having been told by Eric to do nothing that would draw attention to Sookie's gift, wandered back to Eric's office for a few minutes before re-emerging to deal with the two underage girls.

A bit later, Eric slid into the booth beside her. "Two under-agers?"

"Yup."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary for here."

"Give me an example," he asked. While he couldn't care less about what people were thinking unless it revealed a threat of some sort, he was definitely interested in keeping Sookie talking. He wasn't sure how this "non-linear" thing was supposed to work, but he was certain it would work better if he knew more about her.

"Well, the usual for a bar, I guess. Some thoughts are vague, and some are pretty explicit." She shrugged. What did he expect people to be thinking about in a bar?

At his gesture, she took a deep breath and continued. "Sex, sex, how expensive the watered-down drinks are, sex, hope my wife doesn't find me here, more sex, how fantastic you were in bed, will you bit them again, how they wore that particular outfit to attract the attention of any vampire, ewe-gross, how to check a cantaloupe's ripeness," she shrugged, then continued, "and...more sex."

Mentally cursing the fact he hadn't glamoured anyone to forget having been with him, Eric said nothing about his recent feed and fucks. He didn't want to draw attention to anything that might stand in the way of his goals.

"What was the "ewe-gross" thought?" His curiosity made him ask. He sincerely hoped it wasn't about him.

Sookie's cheeks turned red and she had to look away. What was wrong with people? She cleared her throat. "You had that 'banger chick tied up in your basement. Why would you want to have sex with someone if you had to tie them up and gag them first?" The disgust was clear in her voice.

While Eric didn't answer her question, he did find her blush entirely too enticing. He was thankful when Pam appeared and disrupted this increasingly uncomfortable conversation.

"She was correct and the problems have been glamoured not to return until after they're legal."

Eric nodded, then flicked his hand in dismissal. A waitress, possibly thinking he had called her over, quickly appeared. Sookie caught her thoughts as she remembered _her_ time with Eric. Cheese and rice, wasn't there _anyone_ here he hadn't had?

"Master?"

Sookie caught herself before she rolled her eyes too hard, but a quiet snort still escaped.

Eric pretended not to notice. "A True Blood for me, and do you want another...," he indicated her drink.

"Can I get a Dr Pepper instead?"

The waitress nodded, and an uncomfortable silence prevailed until after she'd returned with their drinks. He took a long pull from the bottle of faux-blood as he tried to figure a way out of this current mess. The more time she spent in the bar, the more thoughts she would undoubtedly hear about his exploits. He certainly wasn't ashamed of his prowess, but he didn't want knowledge of his exploits to interfere with his pursuit of the delectable Miss Stackhouse. It was obvious that he would have to start glamouring his feed and fucks. He found himself surprised that he actually cared about what she thought.

"You seem tired," he commented quietly after a while.

"I am," she replied just as quietly. "It feels good to use my, erm, talents like this, trying to save someone, but yeah, it wears me out. I'm glad I'm off tomorrow."

Internally Eric tamped down his frustration. He had already thought of several errands he had wanted Sookie to run for him, the kinds that would have resulted in her appearance at one of his houses, but this changed his plans. She did look tired.

"You should rest, then."

"But, Eric, I have to ask. Why can't I just drive by those two places to find out if I can hear something that might could help us? I could...," she trailed off when he started shaking his head.

"No. Absolutely not. It's too dangerous." The thought of those drainers getting their hands on her luscious body almost made him drop his fangs.

Sookie slumped against the back of her seat as she wondered why she wasn't being allowed to do her job. Worry for the female vampire bubbled to the surface. "But how much longer do you think she'll be alive?"

"Alive?"

"Uh, Eric, you know what I mean. The longer we wait, the worse off she is."

"We?" He quirked his brow.

"Yes, Boss, we. You asked for my help with this, and I'm giving it. We."

He didn't want to consider how much that "we" affected him. "And I appreciate it, but I will not have you going into a dangerous situation during the day when I cannot protect you. This is my final word."

Surprisingly irritated by his high-handed refusal to accept her help, Sookie snarked, "Yes, _Master_."

A swift breeze later, she found herself pinned against the back of the booth by a large, intensely-focused blond vampire. Eric's fangs were fully distended, his blue eyes intense as he stared down at her for a long moment before growling into her ear, "Do not, under any circumstances, call me Master...unless you mean it, Miss Stackhouse."

Sookie squirmed as she tried to get away from him, but his huge body proved to be an effective cage. She pushed her hands against his hard shoulders, and he didn't budge an inch. "Eric, let me go!"

He slowly, lightly, trailed his nose down her throat from her ear to her collarbone, and back up. "A pertinent piece of advice: do not say _anything_ you do not mean when dealing with vampires, Miss Stackhouse. We tend to be a very literal species at the best of times." He moved back enough to stare back down into her eyes.

"Had you said that to any other vampire, they would have been free to claim you as their own as it would sound like you were offering yourself to them. Do you _want_ to be claimed by any other vampire, Miss Stackhouse," he demanded very seriously.

"N..no, no, I don't." Sookie had a strong suspicion that she'd opened a can of worms that she didn't know how to close. She'd been annoyed with his high-handed refusal of her assistance...and by how that waitress had addressed him.

But..._Master_? Seriously? She didn't want to address the jealousy that had flooded her system then...or when she'd seen remembered evidence of his sexcapades with over half the women in the bar.

Eric continued, "Then never call a vampire "Master". Certainly do not joke about this, and do not _ever_ address me as such...unless you truly mean it." He paused to gaze over her face for a moment before switching his focus back to her eyes. "And if you do, be prepared for the consequences."

He lowered his head and captured her lips in a surprisingly gentle kiss. As his firm lips glided smoothly over hers, Sookie couldn't help but notice how thorough he was, even with his fangs fully erect. She inhaled his spicy, masculine scent and when she groaned her approval, he took immediate advantage and thrust his tongue between her parted lips.

He cupped the back of her head and deepened his kiss, thrusting his tongue in and out, then nipping very gently at her lips before invading her mouth once again to massage her own tongue with his.

As the kiss grew heated, she realized that her hands on his shoulders were pulling him toward her instead of pushing him away. Long minutes later he began placing open-mouthed kisses across her jaw and down her neck, where he paused to nibble and suck at her sensitive flesh in one particular spot, knowingly leaving his mark there.

The sound of a throat being forcefully cleared brought them both out of their lust-filled daze. "Yes, Pamela," Eric answered huskily while still running his nose along Sookie's neck.

"You have a phone call. It sounded important," came Pam's patented "bored out of her mind" reply.

"In a minute."

"Yes, Master."

Eric rested his head on Sookie's shoulder for a moment, then gruffly stated, "You are dismissed for the evening. Enjoy your night off tomorrow," he raised his head to stare directly into her eyes, "and do not, under any circumstances, look for the drainers. Understand?"

Sookie blew out a puff of air from several levels of frustration, then nodded.

"Good. Good night, Miss Stackhouse."

"Good night, Boss."

Suddenly and unaccountably happier, Sookie smiled sweetly at Eric, who smiled slightly in return before vacating the booth. She finished her Dr Pepper, grabbed her purse, and stepped lightly through the parking lot. When she parked the SUV near her door and exited the vehicle 45 minutes later, she realized that she had missed him driving her home.

.


	11. Chapter 11

Dodge and Chase

"Thanks, Barbara," Sookie whispered, gently tapping the librarian's desk on her way out of the library.

The woman looked up and politely smiled at the blonde. "Take care, now, Sookie," she replied, her words playing over the images of her beloved husband in her mind.

Barbara Beck's husband, Alcee, was a lifelong acquaintance of Sookie's, and Sookie had to stifle her laugh at his wife's concern. Alcee, a very serious member of the Bon Temps' police force, was a firm believer in the existence of supernatural beings in the universe. Unfortunately for Sookie, his belief was not on the welcoming end of such forces, so Barbara's slight suspicion of Sookie amused her to no end. Officer Beck would no sooner touch Sookie with a ten foot pole, let alone any other appendage of his body.

"Ruston," she murmured, starting her car and heading for the I-20. Several times after her Gran's passing, Sookie had utilized the public fax machine in the UPS store there for a few legal proceedings, and while the public library in Bon Temps possibly had machine she could use, she felt safer sending information to Eric from another town.

Sookie sighed at the growing list of things she would need for her new occupation. A fax machine would suit, for starters, and possibly high speed internet at her home. She was content, for now, to use the public computer at the library, but she would not be able to to search for the more sensitive material her job would surely require. The information she currently sought for Eric was simple enough, and Sookie had marveled at the wonder that was 'street view' on Google maps.

The sign of the store she had seen in James Weston's head, belonged to two locations in Shreveport, as Pam has said. Only one of the stores, however, faced a row of businesses and apartment buildings. A series of quick phone calls to check the available vacancies and rental opportunities confirmed, in Sookie's mind, at which location she suspected Felicia was being held.

Her meticulously detailed notes took all of five minutes to transmit, and Sookie forced herself to dutifully head back toward Bon Temps, as opposed to finding her way into Shreveport and strictly by chance venturing past one of the addresses. It would have been easy, driving by, leaving her mind open, but Eric had been adamant. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She questioned how she would react to, or even handle, hearing something incriminating. A group of men willing to capture and drain a vampire were more than capable of doing who knows what to a human woman, and Sookie cringed at the thought. Her blood would not be their primary interest, she was sure.

It was unusual for the whole afternoon and evening to stretch in front of her, and she almost squealed with glee at the chance to spend some time in the sun. Her recent late nights called for a nap, and once home, she changed into her smallest bathing suit and plopped herself in the middle of her back yard. Two hours later she awoke with a start, face down, her body smart enough to have turned over in the heat and sun, and she peeled her sweaty self from her blanket. The sun was much lower in the sky, and she glanced around the yard, disoriented.

Without thinking, Sookie rushed through her shower, not bothering with her hair, and was halfway dressed before she realized that she was preparing to go to work on her self-appointed night off. And while she would have normally scolded herself for the mistake, or even laughed, instead she was disappointed at the idea of staying home. She slowly pulled up the straps of one of her new dresses and sighed.

There was nothing wrong, she figured, with being excited over a new job. There was nothing wrong in feeling pride at doing one's job well, she reasoned. There was everything wrong, though, she worried, in rushing to work in hopes of kissing her boss again.

"Goddammit," she said wearily. She'd managed all day not to think about it. Not about how Eric's mouth felt on her skin, not about how his body felt pressed against hers, and certainly not about how not once, in any of the many memories she'd witnessed of him in other women's heads, had he ever kissed anyone. "Shit!" she cursed, pulling her hair tightly up into a ponytail and huffing at her reflection. Whatever game Eric Northman was playing with her, Sookie felt for sure she was losing. When he wasn't pissing her off, she found herself having difficulty keeping her knees together around him, and neither reaction was anything she was used to.

Sookie continued to grumble as she rooted through her refrigerator. The cool air from the appliance felt good on her bare feet as she pulled out what she'd need for a sandwich. The evening weather was feeling as oppressive as the sun had earlier, and Sookie wondered if it would storm.

She had just finished her meal on the front porch and was getting up to refill her iced tea, when the headlights of a car shone down her driveway. Reflexively, she cast out with her head, and initially she tensed as she realized a vampire was heading toward her. When Eric's car came clearly into view, she relaxed briefly, only to freeze up again. It was a mixture of excitement and fear, and Sookie once again cursed her body for it's reactions to the man.

Eric paused by the back of her SUV to pick at something on the rear window, before sauntering over to where she sat on the porch. "Miss Stackhouse," he said, smiling.

Sookie was sure her blush was as red as the sundress she wore, as she stood on wobbly legs to greet him. "Hey, Eric. Mr. Northman."

"Eric Mr. Northman," he mused, slowly ascending the porch steps and unabashedly admiring her body. "I like that color on you."

The man made her feel naked, and she shuddered. "Ha ha," she managed. "I meant Eric." Sookie gestured to one of the porch chairs, and he shook his head, instead leaning against the railing. She could have sworn he'd dragged his hand somewhere in the vicinity of his crotch, but at that moment, his arms were folded across his chest, and he was still smirking. "Pam at work?" she asked.

"Fangtasia is closed on Mondays."

Sookie was about to nod and stopped herself. "I took off the night it's closed?" she asked, and he nodded. "You didn't tell me we were closed on Mondays."

"I told you to choose any two nights you wished," he said calmly. "That you chose one of the nights the club is closed is entirely...your choice."

"You're serious?" Never had Sookie met anyone like him, vampire, employer, anyone.

"Deadly," he said, chuckling at his own joke. "Would you have preferred I allowed you to come in to an empty club? I can do that, if you wish."

"Forget it," she said, waving him off. "So why are you here?" she asked bluntly.

"I was in the neighborhood."

"Uh huh." Sookie gathered up her plate and glass and opened the screen door. "I have to invite you in, right?" she asked, letting the door slam behind her and walking to the kitchen. She wanted to let him inside, but she was slightly embarrassed at how good it felt, leaving him there on the porch. She took her time putting her dirty dishes in the sink and splashing some cold water on her overheated face, before returning to the front door. Eric hadn't moved. "Would you like to come in?"

He silently slipped past her and went immediately to the living room as if he lived there. "You need only rescind the invitation," he reminded her, studying the photos that lined one of the walls.

"I don't have anything for you to drink," she said apologetically. She'd thought of it on the way home that afternoon and second-guessed herself, never seriously believing she'd entertain a vampire in her home that far from Shreveport. But there Eric was, crowding her living room with his tall frame, his face inches from the family pictures on her wall.

"I could drink you," he said quietly, enjoying the immediate response Sookie's body had to the suggestion. "Who is this?" he asked, tapping at one of the frames.

"That's my brother."

"This man?"

Sookie moved in next to Eric to be sure they were looking at the same picture. She'd never thought of her brother as much of a man, but she supposed he was. "Yeah, that's Jason."

"He is related to you by blood?"

"As opposed to what?"

"You share the same lineage," Eric clarified. His eyes darted to every picture on the wall.

"Oh. Yes, he's my...biological brother. Same parents."

"Show them to me."

Sookie raised her eyebrow and pointed out the last photo taken of her parents before they had died. "That's them. My biological parents," she said, emphasizing the last words.

"Do they live here, as well?" he asked. Sookie had only mentioned a brother in her interview, he recalled.

"No, they passed away when I was younger."

Eric said nothing and continued to study the pictures in front of him. "Interesting," he said eventually. He stepped back and glanced around the rest of the room. "Are the other rooms like this one?" he asked. The house appeared lived-in to him and worn with time. He was not concerned with it's appearance, he was simply interested in the environment that had produced her.

"I guess so. It's an old farmhouse." Sookie wondered what type of house Eric lived in. Or any vampire, for that matter.

"It is very far from your job," he remarked, taking a seat on the couch. He did not think it appropriate that she traveled as she did, especially in the dark. She should be closer to him.

"I know," she agreed. "I'm kind of surprised you made the trip."

Eric looked her over again. "You were leaving?" he asked, gesturing to her dress.

Sookie blushed again and laughed. "Believe or not, I forgot that I didn't have to work tonight."

"Promise you will wear that another night," he said seriously.

"Whatever you like," she said smartly, and he grinned. Sookie folded her hands in her lap and sighed. "Why are you really here, Eric?"

"Ah." His primary motivation had been the woman in front of him. "I do have something to report, based on the information you provided."

"You got the fax!" she exclaimed. "Was I right?"

"So far."

"You found her?" Sookie asked hopefully.

Eric crossed his long legs and studied her. Though the trial period of one week was not over, he knew what he wanted from her. And while she had not indicated that she wished to leave his employment, Eric knew, he'd never let her go. "How far do you wish to take this, Sookie?" he asked seriously.

She cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It is one thing to provide information, regardless of the source," he explained, glancing purposely at her head. "It is another, to become involved in how that information is used."

Sookie understood immediately. "Right."

"Right," he repeated.

"I think," she said slowly, "that I only know what you tell me. I also think, that I should know what I need to know." Eric's face was impassive, but he nodded for her to go on. "If the time comes, that I need to know something, and you don't tell me...well then, that'll be the time for me to leave."

"And if you do not ask something, about which you are not told?" he countered.

"Shame on me," she said quickly. Sookie felt herself smart enough to ask what she should know. "And if you don't tell me, something I need to know?"

Eric smiled, though he had now learned how her mind worked. "Shame on me," he answered.

"Felicia's dead," Sookie guessed.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. She could have asked how he knew, or who went looking for her, but it wasn't necessary. "They'll come for you next."

Eric shrugged. "Perhaps."

"We should find the guy who was holding your picture, Eric."

"I believe we will."

Sookie had to admit, he was fascinating. She didn't know if vampires had friends, or if they hung out together outside of places like Fangtasia, but it didn't surprise her that he was a someone in charge. "Do you think you've been targeted because you're a Sheriff, or could it be something personal?"

"What is your guess?" Eric asked, knowing it unlikely he'd avoid her questions for long.

"If someone's showing your picture, I'd say it's personal," she speculated.

"I would agree with you," he admitted.

Sookie nodded thoughtfully. "So who would be gunning for you, so to speak? These guys are humans. Do vampires hire humans?"

Eric paused at what she had asked, stunned. There was something to what she said, though he could not put his finger on it. "Why would you suspect a vampire behind a human plot to capture a vampire?" he demanded.

"I have no idea!" she exclaimed defensively. "I was thinking out loud. I don't want to assume y'all just up and kill each other! I don't know, you usually hire someone to do your dirty work so it doesn't come back to you, right? Or you've got a score to settle. Like an eye for an eye."

"Perhaps it is a human, hiring humans," he suggested.

"Could be," she agreed. "It just seems bigger than that. Whomever it is, isn't just going for you, they're aiming for your whole circle." She was about to go on, when somewhere in the house, her cell phone began to ring. Sookie's eyes glanced around the room and she cursed.

"Allow me," Eric offered, pinpointing the phone's location in the room adjacent to the one in which he sat. Only two numbers were programmed into it, and Eric was curious in that he was not calling her, nor was his Child. He was back within seconds, handing Sookie the device while searching his memory for the name 'Preston Pardloe.'

"Thanks," she said appreciatively. Sookie answered without looking at the phone's screen as she walked from the room. "Hello?"

"Sookie? It's Preston."

"Hi, Preston," she said warmly. "How are you?" She looked at the kitchen clock and wondered why he'd be calling her at ten o'clock at night.

"Feeling foolish realizing how late it is," he said, chuckling. "I don't suppose you're in town," he added hopefully, and she smiled.

"In Shreveport, no! I'm in the middle of something, anyway, but it was nice of you to think of me."

It was all Eric could do not to rip the phone from Sookie's hands and crush it. He watched her body language, attempting to assess how she felt about the man on the other end of the line. She sounded pleased to hear from this Preston, but he didn't seem to elicit the same responses Eric did from Sookie. He decided to press the issue.

"I have been thinking of you," Preston admitted.

Sookie felt her body heat up, but it wasn't at the words in her ear. It was the tall vampire standing behind her, grazing her body with his, trapping her where she faced the sink. "Oh," she stammered, as he wrapped her long ponytail in his fingers, placing it over her shoulder and onto her chest.

"Am I being too forward?" Preston asked worriedly at her silence.

"N-no," she said breathily. Eric's cool lips teased the shell of her ear before moving gently down the side of her neck. His arms slid around Sookie's waist, holding her in place as he moved closer against her.

"You smell like the sun," he whispered, his mouth back at her ear. "And of the sky," he went on. Eric's arm moved higher, across her breasts to pull at her chin and bring her mouth to his.

Sookie was barely conscious of the phone slipping from her hand as she opened her lips to his, gasping his name. She was at his mercy in that position and had no intention of begging him to release her. They kissed for a moment longer, until Eric pulled back to smile at her.

"Your phone, lover," he said gently, loosening his grip on her when she startled in his arms.

"My phone!" Her hands flailed across the counter, sending the phone skittering into the sink. "Shit!" she swore, grabbing it and putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

Eric was satisfied, in more ways than one, that he understood the relationship between Sookie and the man on the phone. He'd heard Preston, repeating Sookie's name, saying he thought he'd lost her, and Eric had agreed. "Hung up?" he asked innocently, reluctantly pulling his hips away from the softness of her backside.

"I feel bad," she groaned.

Eric did not. "We should finish our discussion," he suggested.

"You're right," she said, facing him. "I shouldn't have answered it in the first place. We were busy." Her hands worried the front of her dress, and he was tempted to give them something else to do. Eric wondered how much longer he would last around her, without attempting to insinuate himself inside some part of her body.

"Come," he said, offering his hand and leading her from the kitchen. And her phone.

Sookie rushed to keep up with him before trying to stop him in the foyer. "Eric, wait..."

"What?"

"What was that?" she asked earnestly. "In there," she said, hiking her thumb over her shoulder. "What are we...what do we...?"

"No one asks me the things you do, Miss Stackhouse," he said, grinning.

Sookie released the breath she'd been holding and frowned. "So, what, I'm...different?"

"Indeed."

"I don't remember kissing in the job description."

"That," Eric said, pointing in the direction of the kitchen, "is not part of your job."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "What if I didn't want to...do that?" she asked sheepishly.

"But you do want to 'do that,'" he pointed out, much to her dismay and embarrassment. "As do I."

"Let's say, for argument's sake," she started, ignoring the smart-ass look on his face, "that I didn't want to do that. Would I still have a job?"

"Of course," Eric answered, unable to envision such a scenario. He slowly leaned down, cupping his large hand around the back of her neck, and kissed her, moving slowly from her mouth to her neck, before lingering again at her lips. Eric waited patiently until Sookie opened her eyes to stare up at him. "Can I expect you at work tomorrow night?"

All she could do, was nod.


	12. Chapter 12

Dodge and Chase Chapter 12

.

Cool, firm hands circled her waist and drew her back into a large, hard body. Smooth lips trailed down the side of her neck placing open kisses here and there as that large, hard body pressed into her, trapping her between him and the sink. His hips rocked slowly into the small of her back, his desire extremely obvious and larger than life.

His large hands slowly glided down to her hips as he pulled her more firmly into his body before sliding his fingers up to graze the sides of her breasts. Sookie gasped as he tested the weight of her breasts in the palms of his hands before sliding his thumbs back and forth over her hard nipples.

She moaned and tilted her head to the side as his teeth and fangs lightly scraped up and down the side of her neck. His hips thrust harder and faster against her backside as he gently pinched and rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger with one hand while the other slipped down to rub her center.

Sookie tensed, her pleasure soaring as she felt his fangs smoothly penetrate her neck...and then the phone beside her bed rang. Startled awake, she flopped over onto her back, highly irate that her dream was so rudely interrupted. The lay there fuming and plotting murder as she listened to a mechanical voice advise her answering machine that, for a limited time only, she now qualified for a low-interest loan she didn't need to consolidate the credit cards she didn't have. When the condition of her full bladder rudely decided to make itself known, she reluctantly rose and started her morning routine.

As she waited for her coffee to brew, she realized that while she never saw her "mystery lover's" face, it had to be Eric Northman in her dreams. And after the stunt he'd pulled while she was on the phone with Preston last night, it wasn't even surprising that she'd dream about him. She fully admitted that she found him attractive, damn near irresistible, if she were honest. Alas, this was only a dream.

When two cups of coffee didn't provide enough incentive to remain awake, she sat the alarm on her phone and willingly dozed off on the sofa, curled up under her Gran's old afghan.

Sometime later she woke up to someone trying to pound down her front door yet again, but at least this time she was well rested and fully dressed. And she couldn't even complain since a quick glance at the clock told her it was just after two in the afternoon.

As she padded to the door, she read the mental signature of the person knocking and wondered what someone from the largest office supply store in Shreveport was doing at her house.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" the young man asked her T-shirt covered chest.

"Eyes up here, and yes, I am." She'd gotten sick of the entire "talking to the boobs" routine in high school. She glanced behind him and noticed another person and the open back of a small van.

He blushed, cleared his throat, and then finally found her eyes. "Ma'am, I'm Curtis LaCunaire from Shreveport Office Supplies, and I have a delivery and installation for you. If you'll just sign right here," he handed her an electronic signature pad, "we can begin unloading and setting up your new equipment."

"Who is "we" and what equipment are you talking about?" She suspected a tall, gorgeous Viking was behind all this, but in this day and age it never hurt to know exactly who you were letting into your house, particularly if you were a woman living alone with no close neighbors. She would definitely read his mind as he spoke his words.

Momentarily flustered by her questions, especially since he knew the size of the order and the name of the huge vampire behind it, Curtis scanned through the order as he answered her question.

"I could get into specifics, but the simplest way to answer is this: a fully-loaded laptop and tablet, completely wireless of course, a wireless fax machine separate from the computer, wireless printer/scanner, cases of paper and ink..."

Sookie tuned out when he got to the part about the cable and the wifi set-up and some sort of accessories and...docks? Trust Eric to notice that she wasn't quite caught up to the computerized version of the 21st Century in the short amount of time he was here.

"And you have someone to set this all up," she asked when he finally wound down.

"Yes, Anita LeFleur, our branch manager, is highly qualified to set up your office environment."

Sookie snorted at the thought of an "office environment" since all that stuff was going to be living on an end table in a corner of the living room. "Office environment"...yeah, right.

An hour and a half later Sookie gladly ushered Shreveport Office Supplies' finest out of her home as she wondered if she was going to have to get used to Eric sending her daytime deliveries. His attention to details fascinated her, as did his seeming willingness to spend what was to her huge amounts of money at the drop of a hat.

She spent the next couple of hours familiarizing herself with her new laptop and tablet, and fought hard against the urge to send Eric a test fax. Then, suddenly, it was almost time to down some supper and get dressed for work. She might even be a bit early for a change.

Fangtasia was already in full swing when she arrived and parked in her Eric-appointed spot. She smiled to herself when she realized that everything about her was new. She was dressed in a new cobalt blue skirt and new white blouse, both from Tara's Togs, with her new tablet in tow. Her legs were nicely tanned from her previous yard session, so she didn't bother with hosiery, but her underwear was new, and so were her shoes. Even the vehicle she drove was new. As she entered the club via the employee entrance, she briefly wondered if she carried that "new car-clothes-electronics-shoes smell".

The tall, blond Viking was nowhere to be seen, so she sought out Pam to discuss her duties for that night.

"Here," Pam said with abject boredom as she handed over a sealed envelope. "This was left for you."

Sookie put her purse in Eric's office and followed Pam to Eric's booth before opening the envelope.

_My dear Miss Stackhouse,_

_At this time your most important duty is the use of your particular talent. Should you discover anything of importance, let Pamela know immediately._

_Soon,_

_Eric_

She admired his neat, precise handwriting for a moment, then slipped the folded note into the pocket of her skirt. She looked across the booth's table as Pam sat down. At her quirked brow, Sookie whispered quietly, "I'm just supposed to listen and let you know if I hear anything important."

Pam nodded. She would have seriously wondered what was wrong with her Maker if he hadn't wanted to use the blonde's telepathy, especially with the way things were starting to look. He was already paying her for her services, so why _not_ get some use out of her? At least she was good for something more than causing his odd "mood swings". She mentally rolled her eyes at his strange obsession with the human.

She was pretty enough, and did have a delicious scent, and she was actually rather nice, but... Oh, well, at least she didn't have that weird gas problem so many humans had these days.

After ordering and receiving their drinks from the hovering waitress, Pam slipped into a light version of downtime while Sookie pretended to toy with her tablet as she listened into an endless sea of boring fangbanger thoughts.

Sadly she wasn't surprised that "increasingly drunken desperation" warred with "unrelenting desire" for the primary focus of the night's thoughts. She was highly relieved when she would find the occasional mind that was simply glad to be out clubbing rather than having a reverse feed and fuck fixation. The telepath would take a brief break and focus on those happier minds for a few minutes before diving back into the seething mass of the pathetic and the pitiful.

It took her a little while to notice a difference in the unflatteringly gothic clientele's thoughts of that night and the thoughts she'd previously read. Before, a surprising number of fangbangers had memories that often centered on their past feed and fuck exploits with Eric, but now not nearly as many of them were remembering such sessions with "the Master".

But...a pattern was emerging. Fangbangers that she knew for a fact he had been with weren't simply no longer thinking about it; they also had a new mental pattern that was very slightly odd yet barely discernable - one she hadn't noticed in them .

She mentally shrugged her shoulders. She didn't like that uncomfortable twinge of irrational jealousy which refused to fade like it should. It wasn't like they were a couple or even dating, so it was none of her business who he had sex with or fed from, just like it was none of his business who _she_ dated...even if his actions the night before last, and last night, too, potentially belied that theory.

Relationships were too damn complicated...she'd ponder it all tomorrow, she decided, then turned her attention back to her job. She would admit only under duress that she enjoyed mentally snarking back to the thoughts she'd overhear.

_"...late again...she's never on time..." _

Maybe you need better friends...

_"...hope I don't get caught...we paid good money for these fake IDs..." _

She caught Pam's attention and showed her the quickly typed note on her tablet pointing out the under-agers, and Pam quickly left to dispose of the problem.

_"...where's the Master? I hope he comes in tonight, I need him to...what was I thinking about..." _

Um-hum, interesting...

_"...damn these pleather pants itch...shoulda used baby powder..."_

Ha ha ha...gross...

_"...if The Master will show tonight, he's so fucktastic...I bet he's huge..." _

Why, yes, I do believe he is... Is it hot in here? Whoo...next thought, please...

_"...I'm going to miss Letterman for this? I'm never wearing fake lashes again..." _

Go on home to your Letterman then... Fake eyelashes? What's the point?

_"...bite me...bite me...bite me..." _

Pathetic...

_"...watered-down over-priced drinks...should be studying for that chem test tomorrow..." _

Huh, maybe I'll listen in a bit to check his age...nope, he's fine...

_"...hope I get at least one vampire's attention tonight...need so bad for one to bite me..." _

Pathetic...generic drug addict in the worst possible shade of hair dye...

_"...tomatoes, celery, onions, red peppers, __boudin__, cayenne..." _

Damn. Thanks, now I'm hungry...

_"...information, heart and soul, a whisper, a word...fucking ear worm..." _

Gee, thanks lady...now I'm hungry _and_ have ear worm...

_"...getting late...must not be going to show up tonight, should I call the boss...he'll be pissed..."_

Sookie tensed when she heard the last snippet, and glanced around for Pam. A moment later the blonde vampire appeared by her side.

"What?" She could tell by the set of her shoulders and the look on her face that the telepath had news.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's good."


	13. Chapter 13

Dodge and Chase

Sookie forced herself not to frantically search around the dimly lit club to find the owner of the thoughts she'd just heard. Eric was nowhere to be found, Pam was too close for comfort, and Sookie couldn't help but wish it were the other way around.

"There's a guy," she said slowly, stalling for time as she tried to form a plan in her overactive mind.

"Cut to the chase," Pam said impatiently.

"Where exactly is...my boss?"

"On his way."

Sookie pursed her lips and focused on Pam's face as she cast her mind out again. Whomever it was plotting against Eric was very close to calling it quits for the evening, and while that seemed to Sookie like a good idea for everyone involved, she knew she couldn't let the opportunity pass. "Tell him to come in through the back," she said, apparently with enough authority in her voice that Pam arched an eyebrow while whipping out her phone. "And then let me know when he's here," she said absent-mindedly, sneaking a glance around the room.

Much to Sookie's surprise, she'd been able to exclusively keep just the thoughts of the man she believed to be looking for Eric foremost in her head. An image of the ass of one of the waitresses popped into her mind's view, and Sookie quickly singled out from where it came. "Gotcha," she whispered.

Pam followed Sookie's gaze and scowled. "Flannel and vest?" she hissed.

"Cripes, maybe you should put me at the door," Sookie replied. "He doesn't even match." She was disappointed in herself that she hadn't thought of that sooner, screening everyone who entered Fangtasia.

"Excellent idea," Pam agreed, looking at her phone. "He's in his office."

Sookie nodded and squared her shoulders. "Don't let him leave," she whispered, shooting her eyes toward the man. An image of a snarling Pam, pinning the guy to the floor suddenly popped into Sookie's head, though it came from her own imagination. "Send him a drink or something. Waylay him...without touching him," she added.

"Obviously," Pam said drily.

"He's here for Eric," Sookie blurted, suddenly realizing she hadn't really told Pam anything. "I'm gonna suggest we follow him or something, so I didn't want him to see him-"

"Go," Pam said, prodding Sookie toward Eric's office. "Understood."

The door to the office swung open before Sookie could knock, and she found herself face to chest with her tall employer. "Who is it?" Eric demanded, pulling Sookie inside.

"Hey!" Sookie squealed, shuffling her feet so as not to fall. Eric quickly righted her, but held onto her arms. "Where've you been?"

"Cleaning up the mess left after Felicia."

Sookie looked up into his serious face and immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry, Eric."

He studied her for a moment before releasing her. "You seem more concerned than her Maker did," he admitted. "Regardless, it makes her disappearance easier to ignore, I suppose."

Sookie tried to ignore how sad that made her feel and blew out her breath. "There's someone out there looking for you," she said nervously. "I was thinking maybe we should follow him...?" she offered, her voice trailing off.

"What did you hear?"

She ran her hands through her hair, trying to twist it on top of her head, while Eric openly took in her body as she did so. "He thought about leaving, since he hadn't seen you, and that maybe he should call his boss."

"He could be waiting for anyone," Eric argued.

"I saw Robbie in his head, Jesse's brother. And you."

Eric nodded before tucking a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. He let his hand come to rest at the base of her neck, his thumb grazing her collarbone. "We'll leave through the back and wait in Pam's car."

Sookie nodded, the only thing she felt able to do with Eric's cool fingers sending chills along her overheated skin. "Wait," she said hoarsely. His touch once again had sharpened the images and voices in Sookie's head, and she unconsciously gripped Eric's wrist. "He's texting someone," she said, rattling off the numbers the man entered into his phone.

Eric pulled out his own phone, leading her down the hall to the exit. "Pam has it. Come, before he leaves." Once outside, he paused, unsure as to whose vehicle they should drive. The interest of the group of drainers had not abated, and Eric considered that at some point, they could move beyond scoping him out at his club. Neither he nor Pam had gone down for the day in their primary homes since the night following Felicia's disappearance, when Sookie had confirmed Felicia had been abducted. The photo of Eric swirling around James Weston's mind had cemented their decisions, and Eric was now cursing himself for not including Sookie amongst those most at risk.

"Should I drive?" Sookie asked, rousing him from his thoughts.

"No." Eric swore under his breath and took an uncharacteristic step backward toward the shadow of the building, pulling her with him. It had been centuries since he felt physically vulnerable, and he knew it was in part due to the woman at his side. He felt Sookie slide her hand into his and tug gently.

"Let's find out who's behind this," she suggested softly, and Eric wondered if Sookie understood the scope of what she was saying. He knew she couldn't, as he hadn't explained half of what was at stake to her. He was, he realized, going to get her killed.

"We will take Pam's," he decided, hustling them to a non-descript minivan. It would be unobtrusive, and easily replaceable.

"Is this tinting even legal?" Sookie wondered aloud, squinting to see through the windshield while she fastened her seatbelt.

"You do not need to see," Eric reminded her and drove to another parking space so as to view more of the lot. "Answer your phone."

Sookie jumped slightly and dug through the bag between her feet. She hadn't heard it and scrambled to stop the vibration of the call. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Who is it?"

"No one," she said, zipping her bag. "I'm at work, remember? No personal calls."

Eric assumed who the 'person' was calling her and scowled, turning his attention back to the door to Fangtasia. Pam had drifted outside, and she nodded to signal him. "He's coming out," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I know," Sookie quipped, tapping her temple. "He drives a motorcycle, by the way."

"Good." The loud noise of the machine's engine would make it easier to follow from a distance. "How close do you have to be?"

"A few hundred feet, maybe?" she speculated. When she'd been younger, Sookie had enjoyed testing her telepathy, but the novelty had worn off as she grew up. "I haven't tried farther than that in a long time."

They both watched as the man exited Fangtasia and approached, as Sookie had known, a motorcycle, parked along the street lining the lot. He started the bike and took off, and Eric waited a few seconds before following.

"He couldn't have captured you alone," Sookie observed, leaning her head against her window and closing her eyes.

"He could not have captured me."

"Glad I'm riding with you, then," she joked, patting him on the forearm. If she had to guess, she felt the motorcycle was heading for the highway. "He needs gas," she said suddenly. "And he's going to make a phone call."

They watched the motorcycle turn toward a gas station as Eric pulled into the lot of bank next to it. He lowered his window and cut the engine. "Can you hear him?"

Sookie nodded and leaned across Eric to see, bracing her hands on one of his thighs. "Yeah." The motorcycle was parked at one of the pumps, and while the rider waited for the tank to fill, he took out his cell phone. "Can you?" she asked.

"Yes." Eric unconsciously rested his hand on the small of her back as they both honed in on the conversation.

"It's Robbie, I see him in his head."

"He is confirming my absence," Eric added. "I cannot hear to whom he is speaking, though."

Sookie nodded and leaned further out Eric's window. "The guy in the suit just flashed through his head!"

"He called him Brown, wondering how 'pissed' he would be." Eric was silent for a moment. "He also refers to him as the 'good deacon.'" A low growl vibrated from Eric, and Sookie shrank back into her seat.

"Eric?"

"Robbie will call him back," he said, whipping out his phone and texting someone.

"Why are you so mad?" she asked, watching the motorcycle drive away from the station. "Don't you want to follow him?" When Eric continued to ignore her, she poked him in the arm. "What did you hear?" she demanded. She knew she hadn't heard much, but at least they confirmed the man's involvement with Felicia's drainers. What Sookie couldn't understand, was why they were still sitting in the bank's parking lot.

Eric hissed into his phone a few times, and she assumed he was talking to Pam. Sookie supposed it didn't bother her that he needed to talk to his partner, but it irked her to be reminded she was the hired help. She wondered if vampires and humans were ever friends and doubted it.

Without a word to her, Eric started the minivan and began to drive back the way they had come. "I guess you can just drop me off," she offered.

"Pam will meet us with your car."

"Meet us where?"

"At one of my...homes," he said.

"Why?" It made no sense to her. "Eric, what's going on?"

"What is a 'good deacon'?" he asked, in lieu of answering her.

"A deacon's the minister of a church below a priest. This guy Brown's a deacon?" she asked incredulously.

"I am not sure. It was said in a derogatory fashion."

"Huh." Sookie thought back to her images of the man in the suit. "He could be, I guess. He did look a little 'church-y.' Or maybe that's how he looks or acts to these guys. You know, like calling one of your smart friends 'Professor.'" The look on Eric's face confirmed that vampires most likely did not have friends. "How the heck does someone like that know you, though?"

Eric debated how much to tell the telepath he had already put at so much risk. "The man on the motorcycle said, if the good deacon weren't so fucking hopped up on V all the time, he'd tell him to drain the big fucking vampire himself."

"No!" Sookie's jaw dropped as she stared at Eric. "The guy hiring the drainers is addicted to V? That makes no sense! It's gotta cost way more to pay someone to do the draining, than it does to just buy the blood yourself! What the hell is going on here?"

Eric screeched the van to a halt outside a warehouse. "What do you mean?"

"This is where you live?" Sookie asked, lowering her window. "It's not what I expected."

"Answer me," he said impatiently.

"About what?" she answered just as huffily. "Okay, first we have the drainers. Then we have Brown, who's an addict." Sookie stared at Eric's stony expression in disbelief. "Holding up a picture of his target! I mean, yes, if he's an addict, I'm sure the vampire blood is an added bonus, but it has to be more than just some guy hiring drainers! I'm just saying, I think he's working for someone. Someone who doesn't care that he's addicted to vampire blood, and is willing to hire a bunch of cut-rate drainers to capture the local Sheriff. Maybe the fact Brown is hooked on V, and a leader in some church is actually a draw for whoever's behind this. I'd think it's kind of a big deal to take down another vampire, especially you, Eric." Sookie turned her attention back to the building in front of them. "You know anyone like that?" she said mildly.

Sookie was about to go on, when Pam popped up outside the van's window, her sudden appearance causing Sookie to shriek. "Jesus, Pam!"

Pam stepped back to allow Sookie out and slammed the van's door. "Did I surprise you?"

"I'll just be taking my keys and going home, thanks," Sookie said, holding out her hand. "Where's my car?"

"Inside," Pam said, tilting her head to the warehouse. "I'll just be taking my keys and going home, thanks," she mimicked, and Eric threw them to his Child.

"Meet us here tonight," he said, holding his hand out to Sookie.

Pam nodded and paused by the driver-side door before getting in. "I took an interesting phone call after you left, Sookie. A...gentleman was looking for you." While Pam watched the pair drive off after the motorcyclist, her phone rang. It only took a few seconds for her to realize, the caller was calling from the parking lot, which Pam found curious.

"Who was it?" Sookie asked, wincing as Eric's grip on her hand tightened.

"I did not recognize him." Pam had seen the caller in his car, unknowingly speaking to her as she watched. And while Preston Pardloe was very polite, he was also very nonhuman. "Were you expecting to meet someone at the club this evening?"

"No," Sookie replied, confused. "I wouldn't, not while I was working." She also doubted she'd choose to meet someone at Fangtasia on a night she wasn't working. "Was it someone confirming my employment?" She had filled out direct deposit forms with her bank, she remembered.

"He knew where you worked."

"Should I be worried?" Sookie asked honestly, looking at Eric, and Pam snickered.

"Tonight, Pam," Eric reminded her, leading Sookie away.

"Wait, my keys," she said, glancing back to the minivan.

"You do not need them."

"Well then, how am I going to get home?"

Eric led her to the side of the building, and she stumbled along the darkened sidewalk. "You are not going home," he said simply. "You're staying here. With me."


	14. Chapter 14

"What?!" Sookie was sure she hadn't heard Eric correctly. "What did you just say?"

"I said that you're staying here, with me. End of discussion." Eric unlocked a side door and stepped inside, obviously expecting her to follow him.

"What the hell, Eric?" Sookie balked, her voice rising with loud indignation as she took three steps back. "I am not staying here with you! Why the hell would I?"

Eric glowered at her for a long minute, scanned the darkness surrounding them, and simply picked her up and whisked her into the small office. After he gently sat her down , he quickly secured the door, then switched on the meager lights in the windowless room.

"Eric! What the hell is going on? What the hell are you..."

"Sookie, _if_," he stressed the word, "you will stop talking, I _might_," he stressed, "have the opportunity to tell you..." he paused as he checked an incoming text on his phone.

Eric replied to his text while keeping an eye on the furious blonde who was pacing the length of the small room. He considered how little he could get by with telling her yet still ensure her cooperation.

Finally he broke the tense silence. "Have you considered that you yourself may now be a target?"

Sookie stopped pacing, crossed her arms, and glared at him in disbelief. "Me? Why would _I_ be a target?"

"Who do you work for? Where do you spend your evenings? Who have you been seen with?"

Eric's rapid-fire questions each brought home to Sookie the truth in his theory.

"If someone is after me, then we must assume that they're after you, too, and I will not risk your safety." His voice brook no argument.

Sookie returned his serious stare for a long minute, then stated, "You're really worried about this, aren't you."

"It stands to reason that if someone is after me, they will use you to get to me. So, yes, I am concerned. Since the night after Felicia's disappearance, I have not died for the day in the same place twice, and I commanded Pamela to do the same. That is one of the first survival skills any vampire learns." He leaned back against a bare wall and watched as she paced another few turns and then sat down in one of the cheap office chairs. "You will now do the same to help ensure your own survival."

She couldn't believe this! How incredibly high-handed! How arrogant!

And this job...it was _meant _to be a simple job, a good way to make decent money with a career she could enjoy; it wasn't supposed to be something that could get her hurt, or...worse. She briefly considered quitting, but for some reason that just didn't feel like the right thing to do. Besides, even if she did quit, if the drainers or whoever really _had_ already started following her, what good would quitting do? And, did she really want to quit anyway?

So, if drainers _were_ after her, and if she wasn't going to quit, her best option at that particular moment _would_ be to stay here with him. There was no telling who could have followed her home or when. He knew how to stay safe, and well, this _is_ Eric... But she wouldn't agree to these measures too quickly, however. She didn't appreciate his high-handed attitude - he could have given her a choice, and a head's up would have been nice so she could have at least packed a bag...

_*sigh* Manpires..._

She cleared her throat and picked up the conversation they'd started in the mini-van. "So...we've got a group of drainers who have already caught and killed Felicia. Of that group, Robbie is in contact with some guy wearing flannel who was waiting for you to show up at Fangtasia tonight. Flannel guy is also in contact with Brown, the guy in the cheap suit who's a V addict that they call the "good deacon", and he's the one who's showing your picture around. So, you _are_ definitely a target," her voice dwindled as she thought about the situation. Then she added, "And you know, I think I'm right: I don't think they're after you for your blood, Eric, or at least not just for that."

Eric cocked a brow, encouraging her to continue. He was still trying to decide what, and how much, to tell her, and was fascinated to hear what she figured out on her own.

"Because if all they wanted was a vampire for blood, wouldn't they choose an easier target, or like I said earlier, just buy it? It would be stupid to go after a six and a half foot tall walking mountain," she gestured from his head to his feet. "They'd choose someone easier to subdue, like Felicia, bless her heart. And they wouldn't be showing your specific picture around, either. No, they're after _you_ for some reason. Can you think of someone who might be after you?"

Eric, of course, had reached the same conclusions earlier.

When he didn't respond and the silence lengthened, Sookie asked, "So, how long will we be staying here?"

"Just until sunset tomorrow, then we will go to a new location."

"But I don't have any clothes with me, Eric, and what about food?"

"That is being taken care of, and I will escort you to your home tomorrow after dark so that you may pack a bag."

"How long do you think this is going to go on? I have bills to pay and things that I need to take care of at home."

"It will take as long as it takes." At her glare over his curt answer, he elaborated. "We do not yet know the full scope of this threat, and until we identify and neutralize the danger, we will take steps to ensure our safety. This current situation will continue until the threat is over."

She sighed as she contemplated the vague enormity of the situation. Eric left her to her thoughts as he sat down at the desk and he consulted his phone, intermittently reading and texting, until a while later he abruptly announced that Pam had arrived.

"Only for you, Sookie, would I have purchased human food," she proclaimed with a flourish as she entered the small office and deposited several full shopping bags, obviously from a local convenience store chain, at Sookie's feet.

Sookie snickered when she realized that Pam said "human food" much the same way as she herself would have said "cat food". She was thirsty and starting to get a little hungry, so she grabbed the closest bag and began looking through it. Several beef jerky sticks, chocolate bars, bags of chips and packs of chewing gum later, she concluded that Pam didn't have a great grasp on shopping for human nutrition needs. The Dr Pepper she found, however, did go down nicely.

As she reached for the second bag, she consciously listened to Pam and Eric as they spoke quietly about the threat. She scooted her chair up to the other side of the desk and began organizing Pam's purchases, much to Eric's bemused curiosity.

"So we do not know who this "good deacon Brown" is," Pam questioned, happily using her air quotes, "or what church he may or may not be affiliated with?"

_Cheap toothbrush and mini toothpaste set? Um, ok, they'd come in handy..._

"No. Sookie has seen his face, but nothing that would point to a specific church or organization...or anyone else for that matter," Eric replied irritably.

While he understood his child's need to hash out information about this situation, he really would prefer to see her taillights leaving the parking lot. Although it was early in the evening, he preferred to be alone with Sookie, and dark was burning.

_Individual mini-packets of Tylenol, Advil, Alka Seltzer, Pepto Bismal tablets, and a small bottle of aspirin? Well, uh, ok._

"And this Robbie both heads his own drainer crew and reports to Brown who, according to Sookie, waves your picture around."

Eric nodded, his attention equally divided between his child and the contents of the bags that she had given Sookie. Perhaps he should have been more specific in his instructions. From what he understood, pain relief pills were not food.

"So, all we know for a fact is that a V-addicted church man who wears cheap suits has hired drainers to target you specifically."

_Small box of tampons and a tiny canister of hair spray? PAM!_

Pam always did have a way of distilling known information, Eric thought wryly as he glanced at his watch.

_WTF? Black shoelaces? Erm...ok... _

"Eric, do you have any enemies that we need to know about? Either someone in a church who hates you enough to hire drainers to go after you, or someone who hates you enough to hire the deacon guy to go after you?" Sookie's query caught both vampires off guard especially since she was still obviously rummaging through her second bag.

Pam gave Eric a pointed look then glanced furtively toward Sookie.

_Assorted Charms Blow Pops, Gummy worms, sour candies, Goobers, Twizzlers, Raisinettes, and a (squished) loaf of bread? Well, bread is an actual food... _

He glared briefly at his child, then reluctantly acknowledged the possibility. "Yes, but at this time we don't know enough to make specific assumptions."

_A small can of Beanie Weenies, a roll of toilet paper, a small jug of orange juice, a bottle each of Mountain Dew, Fresca, and Sprite, and three bottles of water... So, beef jerky, Beanie Weenies, and a slice of bread it is, then._ _More actual food-type items would have been great, though she could gnaw beef jerky with the best of them. Now, to find a spoon..._

"Either way, hiring drainers can't be a cheap proposition, and if the deacon guy was just wanting a V fix, it would be a lot cheaper, easier, and quicker to just buy it on the street or whatever they do, wouldn't' it? So, who would hate you enough to want to spend this kind of time, money, and effort?"

Catching the look that passed between Maker and child, she demanded, "What? What is it? You know that not showing me all the cards in play isn't helping anything, right?"

She glared pointedly at Eric before turning her attention back to the odd lot of food on the desk. Sookie opened and bit into a beef jerky stick as she waited for his answer. _Yep, still just as dry, salty, and wonderful as ever. _She grabbed a bottle of water off the desk.

Eric rose to pace. "Something is...wrong...with my Maker, Godric. He has been displaying behaviors that are unusual for him. I have been concerned about him for a couple of months now," he paused to lean against the bare wall, arms crossed over his chest. "People in his circle have been dying or disappearing in ways that may or may not connect back to him."

After placing the bottle of water and the half-eaten jerky on the desk, Sookie rose to stand before him. She could tell by his flat tone that whatever was going on, Eric was worried about his Maker. "In what ways has Godric been acting strange? What does he say about this? Is he acting strange because of someone close to him dying or disappearing, or is he the one causing it?"

"I do not believe he is the one causing the deaths and disappearances. But I cannot just ask him, Sookie. That is not the type of relationship I have with him. Godric has always been a force unto himself. You wouldn't understand," he finally concluded irritably.

He saw what he thought was pity in her eyes, and didn't want it.

"Well, I don't understand right now, especially since I've never met him, but in my world when you love someone you help them when they need it whether they want it or not. Maybe it's different with vampires, I don't know, but..." she paused as thoughts raced through her mind. She absent-mindedly returned to her chair.

Pam piped up, "But?"

"But...don't you think the timing of all this is weird? I mean, you've got your GrandMaker," she looked over at Pam, unsure about the term, "acting weird and with people dying. Now, I don't know exactly in what ways he's being different from how he usually is, but still, he's acting weird all of a sudden, and now you've conveniently got a "good deacon" flashing Eric's picture around and hiring drainers to go after him. It just screams "not a coincidence" to me. It would really help if we could go talk to him about this."

"We can't. For one thing," Eric began when he saw Sookie start to speak again, "he's in Texas. Politically, it would draw attention if I were to suddenly appear in his area. If I were to start digging around for information, it would draw the wrong kind of attention. The powers that be in Texas would not like a 'power' from another state sniffing around in _their_ state." He cocked an arrogant brow, inviting Sookie to disagree with the facts.

When she didn't, he continued, "Also, Godric would know if I were near him. It is not my place to go as he strongly rejected my offers of help, and would be incensed if I ignored his orders. You do not want to see my Maker angry."

Eric shook his head and gave Pam the signal to leave. All this running around in verbal circles was pointless, and he wanted some time alone with...

Sookie, missing Eric's hint to Pam, asked, "So, are the missing or dead people very close to him? Does Godric have the kind of enemies who would do that sort of thing? Does he have other children, or pets or girlfriends or whatever who we could talk to? I don't know why, but this all just seems a little too coincidental to _not_ be related to what's going on with the threat to you, Eric."

Pam rose, fangs bared, and hissed, "Or perhaps this entire situation is about Godric, and whoever is after him is gunning for you to get at him? Not because you're you, but because you're his child."

Eric and Pam stared at each other intently for a long minute, then Eric dismissed her until the following evening.

"Come," he placed a hand on Sookie's lower back. "We've spent enough of this night on conjecture. Let's put this evening behind us and adjourn to the basement." He wagged his brows unexpectedly, causing Sookie to laugh.

"Ok, I'll bite. What's in the basement?" She began bagging up the items on the desk and missed Eric's appreciative gaze lingering on her figure.

"We shall see, won't we, my Sookie."

After Sookie filled and gathered the bags, Eric guided her over to one of the two other doors leading out of the office. He flipped open a panel hidden in the wall beside the door, pressed a series of buttons too quickly for Sookie to follow, placed his finger on something, then opened the door. He then flipped on a light switch, and gestured for her to go on down while he closed up the office. Sookie descended the steep stairs until she came to a landing halfway down where she stopped briefly to wait on him.

Eric joined her, and took pleasure in her gasp of surprise when they reached the bottom of the stairs and he turned the lights on to illuminate "the basement". The grungy exterior of the warehouse and the small, cheap office completely belied the spacious luxury found on the lowest floor of the building.

Sookie immediately toed her shoes off and sank her feet down into the blissfully soft camel-colored carpet covering the entire floor of the large room. The area was very nicely lit with soft light flowing from the recessed pots in the ceiling and floor lamps scattered about near the dark brown plush leather sofas and chairs. A couple of end and coffee tables were conveniently placed here and there, and a huge book shelf covered one entire wall.

Another wall held a huge flat-screen tv and media center, and large framed paintings and closed doors took up their own space on the soft beige walls.

Eric led Sookie over to a tiny kitchen area complete with sink, microwave, and regular sized refrigerator. She placed her drinks in the fridge alongside the copious amount of True Bloods already in there, and began organizing her "food" on the small counter space. She held up the solitary roll of toilet paper and quirked her brow at Eric, who laughed and motioned toward one of the closed doors.

"This way, mademoiselle."

He led her to a small but well-appointed bathroom, and left her to her "human needs."

A few minutes later, after having tended to her "human needs" and thoroughly exploring the luxurious space, Sookie emerged to find Eric already having changed clothes and seated on one of the sofas.

"Not fair, boss. You get to change clothes but I don't since no one thought to clue me in to the fact that I was being all kidnapped and stuff."

At the not-so-fake pout she threw his way, Eric rose and took Sookie's elbow to guide her to the other, now open, door.

A huge, high bed dominated the large, softly-lit room. The headboard was pushed against the outer wall, and the soft, camel-colored duvet looked so warm and inviting. Two matching dark wood dressers faced each other against opposing walls, and a matching nightstand was placed on each side of the head of the bed. Each held a small intricately-braided metal lamp with an ivory shade. Before Sookie could take in the various framed pictures and paintings decorating the walls, Eric drew her attention to a chair in the corner of the room.

"Tomorrow I'll escort you back to your home so you can pack a bag, but this should do for tonight," he indicated a couple of shirts and a robe draped over the chair. "I'll...reluctantly...leave you to change," he added with a playful leer.

Sookie waited until she heard the door close, then turned back to the clothes on the bed. She held up a red "Fangtasia" T-shirt, and figured that it had to be Eric's because it was so huge. She quickly shed her outer clothes and put on the shirt, which fell to her knees, and slipped on the midnight blue robe.

After she finished dressing, she sat down in the chair for a moment to ponder this most recent situation. She was alone with Eric, in the luxurious "basement" of a dingy, crusty warehouse somewhere in Shreveport, because for some reason drainers were after him, and she, because of her association with him, was in danger, too.

She shook her head, and realized that she was starting to get a headache. Maybe Pam _was_ smart to buy her some pain relievers, she thought with an eye roll. She took her hair down out of the ponytail holder, and shook out her long, blonde tresses. Sometimes when she wore her hair up the weight would give her a headache, and she hoped that taking it down would help.

When that proved fruitless, she walked back into the living area and headed over to the small kitchen area.

Still sitting on the sofa, Eric watched Sookie's progress and wondered why she didn't come over to him, then saw her pick out a packet of the pain relievers and a bottle of water.

"Why are you taking that?"

His deep voice, coming from just over her shoulder, make Sookie jump.

"Eric! You startled me!"

He smirked. "My apologies, of course. Now, why are you taking that?" What was wrong with her?

After she swallowed the pills and put the bottle back on the counter, she turned to face him, and was surprised to find him still so close.

"I'm starting to get a headache. That should help, though."

"Come, sit on the sofa and relax with me. The events of tonight have undoubtedly been stressful for you." He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her with him to the sofa.

She turned to sit down, but as she sat, she found herself suddenly sitting sideways on the sofa with Eric's large body at her back.

"Eric? What..."

He laughed softly, and said near her ear, "Put your feet up and lean back. I will rub your shoulders as we discuss something I believe you should do this night." His hands had already started threading through her long blonde hair.

"What...ohhhh..."

Even through the fabrics of the T-shirt and the robe, his strong fingers felt like magic as they danced and rubbed over her shoulders and neck. Long minutes passed before she finally remembered her question.

"What...did you want me...to do," she breathed out as she craned her neck to the side to encourage him to linger on a particularly sore spot.

"I want you to take some of my blood."

.


	15. Chapter 15

Dodge and Chase

Sookie was unsure of what Eric had said, as his long cool fingers were now deeply embedded in her hair, their tips expertly scraping against her scalp. God, he was good at it. She felt her headache dissipate as her skin scandalously tingled, from her forehead back, down her neck and spine, straight between her legs. "Jesus," she muttered. "Shepherd of Judea..."

"Sookie," he whispered gently from behind her.

"Huh?"

Eric snickered and trailed his fingers from her head to her neck. "My blood..." he prompted.

When his hands moved slowly forward, splaying across her collar bones, she unconsciously arched her chest toward them. "What about it?" she asked dumbly.

"I want to you to take it." For never having willingly offered it to a human in his long existence, or even desiring to, Eric was surprised by his want and need to do so with Sookie and his ease in expressing it.

"Wait," she said abruptly, stilling the hands so close to her breasts. "Did you say take your blood?" She was confused. "Because I'm not a vampire." Sookie shifted forward, off of Eric's chest, and twisted so she could see his face. "Do you mean, you want to take my blood?"

Sookie was well aware what vampires drank, and while that was fine with her, she wasn't sure she was interested in donating her services. Her mind raced to recall the specifications of her new job, and she couldn't remember seeing blood anywhere in the description.

"Are you offering?" Eric asked, smirking.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I am not offering!" Her eyes searched his face as she tried to comprehend what he was asking. "Why on earth would I take your blood?"

Sookie was handling his suggestion better than he had expected, and Eric debated how to proceed. That she hadn't fled from between his legs and started pounding on the door to escape was, he felt, very promising. "Protection," he said simply, though his reasons for giving his blood were far from simple.

"Your blood could protect me?" she clarified, clearly skeptical. "From what, exactly?"

"Many things," he said vaguely. "With my blood in you, I will be able to sense your location. If you are in fear of something, I will sense it."

"Really?" she asked, in awe.

Eric nodded and went on. "If you need me in any way," he said, careful to keep his expression impassive, "I will know."

Sookie was quiet for several minutes, deep in thought. She couldn't imagine carrying that responsibility for someone, certainly not an employee. "Do vampires do this?" she eventually asked, wondering if this were the norm for him, and she just hadn't picked up on it from the minds she'd heard at Fangtasia.

"When necessary."

"Do you do this?"

"Once," Eric replied. "I gave Pam my blood, the night I turned her." Sookie stiffened, and he wondered if he would finally get the reaction he'd been anticipating.

"You made her into...she's your...?"

"She is the only human who has ever received my blood," he said.

"I see." The room suddenly became very small to her, and Sookie could feel that her cheeks were flushed. "Let me up," she said, tapping his thigh erratically and leaping from the couch once he moved his leg.

Something was wrong, Eric knew, but while he'd expected perhaps shock or anger, he hadn't expected what he was sensing. Fear. "I will not harm you," he said without thinking.

"Good," she said, her voice catching. Her back was to him, and he was sure he smelled tears.

"You are crying."

Sookie stretched the neck of her t-shirt up to blot her eyes and cleared her throat. "I'm fine," she said shakily, still not facing him.

Eric was woefully out of practice with the behavior of humans when not related to sex or fear, and he knew it. "You are feeling sad?" he guessed.

She shook her head and laughed, though there was no humor in it. "I'm feeling trapped." She was, she felt, in more ways than one. In a room from which she had no way of escaping, with a man who, up until that point, she'd had no need to.

"Sookie," Eric said quietly, slowly approaching her. "I will not force you." Though she nodded, he suspected she didn't believe him. "Sit," he said, gesturing to a chair in the small kitchen area. "I will get you some water." Eric retrieved a bottle for her, and some blood for himself.

"Why'd you do it?" he heard her ask from behind him. "Pam. Why'd you turn her?"

Eric stared at the bottle slowly rotating in the microwave in front of him, surprised by the question. "I suppose, in retrospect, I was lonely," he admitted.

"And are you still?"

He smiled, though she could not see and shook his head. "For another Child, no." He quickly gathered their drinks and moved toward the bed. "This is not my attempt to turn you into a vampire, Sookie."

She thanked him for the water and took a long drink. "What is it your attempt at, then, Eric? I mean, you said we'd be stuck together for however long, so it's not like we'll be physically separated, right? You don't need to sense where I am, when I doubt I'll be more than two feet away from you at any given time."

The idea thrilled him, she had no idea. "True."

"So, really?" she asked, eyeballing him. "What's your real reason for getting your blood into me?"

"I have not lied about the benefits of taking my blood," he said defensively.

"I didn't mean it wasn't a sincere offer," Sookie said hastily, holding up her hand. "I didn't mean to offend you. But what about me?"

"I do not understand."

"It's one-sided. You'd be stuck feeling me, right? Why would you want that?" she asked honestly.

"Are you saying...?" Eric had not felt so baffled in a long time.

"It's been my experience, that you don't get something for nothing." Sookie took another drink and raised her eyebrow. "So what is it you'd want from me?"

Eric leaned against the small kitchen counter and weighed his options. "What is your offer?"

"You told me what happens if I take your blood. What happens if you take my blood?" she asked seriously. She was not intentionally teasing him, she was, as usual, thinking things through.

Eric was sure he would come in his pants, if she kept talking as she was. He finished his bottled blood in one gulp and tossed the bottle into the sink. "You are asking about two very different things. I may take yours, you may take mine. Those options are not the same as purposely performing a mutual exchange." Sookie had unwittingly ventured onto a subject he'd thought would take much longer to broach, but he was nothing if not an opportunist. "Drinking your blood, while I'm sure would be extremely satisfying," he said, blatantly adjusting his erection in front of her, "would not allow you any...access to my feelings or whereabouts. Not without you receiving my blood."

"Well, that's not fair," she snapped. "Why should it only be one way? Why should you get all the information, and not me?"

Eric's eyes narrowed, and Pam's musings that perhaps Sookie was simply stupid echoed in his mind. "You would consider that?" he asked casually.

"I'm not saying anything. I'm thinking I don't need to decide this tonight, if we're going to be with each other for the unforeseeable future. But yeah. I think, if I let you in, I'd want you to let me in. And believe me, that's a mighty big 'if.'" Sookie grabbed her water bottle from the table and stood. "Can I sleep in there?" she asked, hitching her thumb toward the bedroom door, and Eric nodded.

It was all he could do, after what she'd said. The simplicity of her words astounded him, so much so, that he wondered if she grasped the weight of them. "Yes," he said, shaking off his stupor. "You may sleep in the bed. I have some things to do," he said, gesturing to one of the couches. "If you rise before me, you will not be able to leave this area, nor will you be able to wake me. There is also no available wood," he added, smiling at his own joke.

Sookie could not find the humor in his remark, and her face went white. "You think I would do that?" she asked, obviously distressed. Her hand went protectively to her neck. "Would you...?"

Eric wanted to backhand both of them. "No," he said firmly. "We will both rise tonight. Intact."

She swallowed and nodded, darting to the bedroom and quickly burrowing under the soft comforter. "Goodnight," she said softly, and Eric waved his hand, though she could not see him, and moved to one of the couches.

Pam had texted with the location of the next evening's resting place, and he had several work-related emails to answer. Unfortunately, it was only twenty minutes worth of busy work, and not nearly enough of a distraction from the pretty telepath, mumbling softly in her sleep a few feet away. Eric was nude and slipping behind her as she slept on her side in under a minute. Sookie hadn't said anything about being the only one to use the bed.

He knew his time was limited. Dawn had come and gone, and the cooler temperature of his body would eventually wake her. He also did not wish to inadvertently crush her with his dead weight, once he went down for the day. So Eric was content, for a few moments, to mold his body to hers, reveling in her scent and warmth, and the softness of her curves. He'd never, as a vampire, known such intimacy with a human, and he realized then, he was loathe to let it go.

As he rolled away from her at the last possible second, he allowed himself to imagine them, bonded together by their shared blood, and swore it would be the first thing he'd bring up when he rose. If she insisted the experience be mutual, he would not stand in her way.

Sookie stirred, stretching her arms above her and yelping when her left elbow hit something hard. "Dammit!" she cursed, rubbing it while she struggled to sit up in the otherwise comfortable bed. Light shone from a doorway across the room, and she was confused as to where the hell she was. She slumped back down under the covers, only to bolt upright again. "Shit! Eric?" she called helplessly, flinging the cover back to reveal a large body next to hers.

Sookie screeched and hastily covered the form again, realizing it was Eric, and that he was naked. "Jesus!" she said, repeating it over and over as she sprung from the bed and hopped from foot to foot, staring at him like he was a large, hairy spider. "Godammit, Eric!" she cursed, eventually laughing at herself. She figured she wouldn't tell him he'd scared her more asleep, or whatever he was, than he ever had awake.

Of course he had snuck into the bed once she was asleep, and of course he slept in the nude. Neither of those things bothered her, it was more the cryptic conversation they'd shared that morning that had her flustered. She quickly showered and threw her dress back on, grabbed a few pieces of bread and some orange juice, and flounced onto one of the couches.

There was too much that Sookie didn't know about vampires, and she only had herself to blame. She figured herself fortunate to have come across Eric and Pam in her embarrassing naivete, since she hadn't been drained, or shackled in the basement of Fangtasia, both of which the pair were obviously capable. Though she was not keen to base any relationship on its success in not killing her.

Eric had left his laptop on the couch cushion, which prompted Sookie to search out her own brand new tablet. It turned out, there was plenty of information on vampires on the internet. Page after page, website after website, articles, chatrooms, pictures, pornography. Sookie blushed and thought of her own naked vampire, dead to the world just a room away, and clicked on a site from one of the more reputable online encyclopedias.

After an hour or so of reading, Sookie was more confused than when she had started. If the site were to be believed, her experiences with Eric were far different than what was known of vampires. Based on his behavior, she felt confident that she could not be considered a 'pet,' and she was certainly not a 'fang banger.' And while humans throughout history had been used to guard a resting place, there were no references to them actually dwelling within one along with vampires. There was also little information on blood exchanges, at least those from vampire to human, leading Sookie to believe they were either extremely rare, or the humans receiving the blood were forbidden to discuss it, or dead.

Overall, there was little information regarding any type of relationship between a vampire and human that wasn't directly associated with blood or sex. On one hand, Sookie was willing to believe it could have been due to the only recent emergence of vampires into society, and there simply hadn't been enough time for the two groups to openly mingle. On the other, though, she was beginning to suspect, that her budding relationship with her employer, and the things he had given her and continued to offer, were truly exceptional. After a lifetime of wishing she weren't special, Sookie wondered if to Eric, she was.


	16. Chapter 16

Dodge and Chase, Chapter 16

Sookie decided a nap just might be in order when a thorough search proved there was no coffee to be found. She hadn't expected there to be any, but she had really hoped the coffee fairies would take pity on her. They didn't.

She had seriously considered just going out to get some, but wasn't sure if she'd be able to bypass Eric's security measures. Plus, what if his concerns were real and people actually were watching her? It was a close call on the "safety versus caffeine" war, but safety finally won. The fact that she had a Mountain Dew in the refrigerator for later helped minutely.

It was just too much, she thought as she stood leaning against the bathroom counter after visiting the toilet and washing her hands. She'd spent the night at one of Eric's places because drainers were after him and therefore they could be after her, too. And because of this danger, the big blond vampire now wanted her to take his blood. HIS BLOOD. He actually wanted her to swallow his _blood_.

The whole idea was gross beyond belief, yet she paused. There was something indefinable about the whole thing which whispered that maybe she wouldn't mind it so much, especially if it meant that Eric possibly cared more about her than she'd allowed herself to consider.

Blood exchanges seemed to be extremely rare considering such things weren't talked about given the plethora of _other_ information available online about vampires and some of their practices. Her brain started swirling again with all the things she'd read earlier, and she abruptly decided that she really did just want to go back to bed for a little while. It was just too much.

Yup, nap time, she mentally declared as she courageously marched right up to the huge bed and tossed back the covers with a flourish.

Then she saw Eric in most of his glory.

She stood transfixed as she gazed over his hard, partially-exposed, body. Uncovering him might have been an accident, but it was a mighty fortuitous accident in her opinion.

Her eyes trailed from his massive thigh up to the sweet curve of his hip, up to his trim waist, then the muscular "v" of his abdomen automatically drew her eyes back down, her gaze following the masculine sprinkle of darker blond hair

She quickly averted her eyes back up to the ridged muscles of his abdomen, and on up to his muscled chest. She gazed at his darker male nipples and wondered if they were as sensitive as hers. Her fingers twitched to run through the sprinkling of softly shimmering blond hair adorning his chest, and she could imagine digging her nails into his broad muscular shoulders.

After a deep, calming breath, she raised her eyes to his face, and a small smile curved her lips. He looked so innocent in his repose. His strong lips were softened, and his brow was relaxed in a way she'd never seen while he was awake.

Although the "undead" were considered "dead" during their daytime rest, Sookie just could not think of Eric as...dead. Asleep. Yes, he was just asleep.

A few minutes later, when she realized that she'd been standing there gawking at his incredible body, she squeezed her eyes shut then she gently eased herself onto the unoccupied side of the bed. She hastily drew the covers up over them both and turned on her side facing away from his colossal sexiness. She snickered about the amount of space he took up in the bed. Good grief but he was huge was her last thought as she succumbed to sleep.

The blankets moved a bit, then a cool hand slowly trailed up her thigh, over her hip, and dipped into the valley of her waist. A moment later that hand slid over the curve of her stomach, and then the strong band of an arm drew her back into the hardness of his body.

"Sookie," a low voice breathed into her ear.

She stretched a little, then stilled.

"Wake up little Sookie," he whispered again, his cool breath then tongue tickling her ear.

"Eric!" That woke her up. Sookie struggled and tried to jump up but the strong arm across her stomach simply pulled her closer to his nude form.

"Eric!," she repeated when she found herself flat on her back with the big blond vampire looming over her with one arm braced on her other side. "What are you doing?" She sounded much more breathless than angry.

"Waking you up, of course. What else would I be doing with you here in my bed?" He quirked his brow as he leered down at her. He swept the hair away from her face, then threaded his long fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck.

She lay quietly still as he dipped his head to her throat and inhaled deeply but then gasped loudly as he swept his tongue slowly from the base of her neck up to her ear lobe, which he suckled then carefully bit. He laughed softly at the shudder that shook her body.

"We have some unfinished business to discuss, my Sookie," he breathed against her lips before softly covering them with his own. She brought her hands up and clutched at his broad shoulders as his tongue delved into her mouth, softly sweeping and sliding, tangling and twisting against her own. He paused to allow her to breathe, then began thoroughly exploring her mouth with over 1000 years worth of experience and expertise.

She moaned, and he instinctively covered her with his large body as he deepened the kiss, and quietly growled his approval when she automatically brought her legs up to pull him closer. His fangs snicked out as she ran her heel down the back of his thigh.

This was getting out of control, he thought foggily as he began nipping and sucking at her neck. As much as he wanted to fuck her senseless, he knew exchanging blood was much more important at the moment.

He knew this. His hips didn't. They ached to thrust.

He was sure of it. His hips weren't. They screamed for him to pound away.

And he was positive he would stop. In a minute.

Blood. Exchange.

After one last lick and suck on her neck, he reluctantly raised his head. A primal surge of satisfaction burned through his blood as he noted her dazed expression, her lips swollen from _his_ kiss, her rapid pants and stuttering heart beat.

"Will you take my blood?"

"How," she paused to breathe again and command herself to focus. She unwrapped her leg from his waist...that particular closeness wasn't helping in the least and how did her leg get wrapped around his waist anyway? "Ok...how long will the effects last? Are you sure you want to know what I'm feeling all the time? How strongly will I be feeling your emotions? What if we do this and it turns out that one or the other of us doesn't like it?"

"One at a time," he interrupted with a gravelly laugh when she paused for breath. He raised himself up a bit with his hands on each side of her arms. "When we exchange blood at the same time, we will form a weak bond that will last a couple of months. The length and strength of this bond is hard to determine. How your telepathy will affect this is also unknown."

He dropped a quick but thorough kiss to her lips, then continued huskily against her lips, "Yes, I do want to know what you're feeling." Another kiss, a bit harder and more passionate this time. "I do not know how much you will feel from me, especially considering your telepathy."

Oddly enough, it was the throbbing of his hard cock that reminded him of the time. He needed to complete this bond before she chickened out, and then they had errands to run. Perhaps after they'd settled in for the day at another location...

He answered her next concern even though he didn't want to consider the thought that she might regret bonding with him. "I know of no way to break the bond, so if you change your mind, unfortunately you will just have to live with it until it fades."

Sookie appreciated his honesty as she gazed up into his blue eyes as if she were searching for answers. Earlier her mind had run the gamut, mentally listing the pros and cons of taking his blood. Protection and feeling connected to Eric versus the invasion of emotional privacy and the potential emotional claustrophobia of being overly-connected to the big vampire...it was a huge decision.

She couldn't remember where she'd heard it, but Aristotle's "You will never do anything in this world without courage" quote came to her mind. Oh, well, here goes...something.

"Ok. How do we do this?"

Pleasantly shocked by her sudden acquiescence, Eric reacted quickly. In the blink of an eye, he shifted them so that Sookie was sitting in his lap with her back against his chest.

"Eric! Hey, not so fast!" Sookie's head was still spinning from the faster-than-sight movements. She felt his chuckle and squirmed around trying to get herself situated, then blushed furiously when she realized that she was sitting, and squirming, on his completely naked lap.

He hissed at the seductive contact between her panty-covered ass and his still-hard cock, and firmly grabbed her hips to still her accidentally suggestive movements.

"Keep that thought for later, my future lover."

Sookie couldn't help it - she burst out laughing, then slapped his hand. "Eric! Get your mind out of the gutter. It's late, I'm hungry, and I'm dying for a cup of coffee. Can we get this blood show on the road now?"

"I have never understood what a gutter has to do with the pleasures of copulation, but as you wish. I will bite my wrist and place it to your lips, and then I will bite your neck. You will drink from me as I drink from you." An unexpected growl escaped his throat at the thought of tasting her while she took him into her body. "Drink until the bite closes."

His growl making her nether bits tingle, Sookie subconsciously writhed against him again, sparking another growl.

"Sookie!"

"Ok, ok, sorry. Bite yourself already."

Eric allowed himself a gruff laugh at her statement, then with a crunch he bit his wrist and placed it to her lips.

Before she could wimp out, she grasped his wrist and held it in place while she wrapped her lips around the freely-bleeding wound, and sucked. At first she pulled hard and swallowed fast to avoid tasting his blood, which was somewhat thicker than she'd imagined it would be. Inevitably she did taste it, and was surprised at the semi-sweet flavor that reminded her a bit of dark chocolate and black cherries...if dark chocolate and black cherries had a bit of a coppery aftertaste. She never even noticed when Eric's long fangs slid painlessly into her skin.

His first mouthful of her sweet, untainted blood was delicious sunshine and warm summer breezes. His second was blooming flowers and clean linens drying in bright sunlight. His third mouthful was pure hot sex. He came hard on his fourth draw. His fifth was more comforting and satisfying than anything he had ever experienced before.

He quickly withdrew his fangs and healed the wound when he felt the bite on his wrist close. The curve between her neck and shoulder seemed created just for his head to rest, and so he lay his forehead there and simply inhaled her sweet, delicious scent for long moments. Never would he admit that he had come so incredibly hard solely from drinking her blood, nor that he was still trembling inside.

Finally feeling a bit more in control of himself, he checked and, sure enough, he could feel another presence at the back of his mind. He could feel her! And she felt...happy? Contented? Definitely aroused, he thought smugly.

Sookie stirred in his lap and felt a sharp burst of satisfaction and desire flow through her blood. But...it wasn't hers, she thought. Well, some of it was, but that intense bolt of satisfacti...Eric! She felt him! And, not the least bit shockingly, he was aroused. She could read his emotions in a way that was totally different from how she could read people's thoughts, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Surprising, yes, and a bit exciting, but not bad.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of Pam's ringtone blasting from Eric's phone.

He kissed the side of her neck, then regretfully moved her off his lap. "My apologies, future lover of mine."

While he spoke to Pam, Sookie jumped up, grabbed her clothes from the night before, and went to take a shower. As she moved around, she felt something wet and sticky on her back. When she turned around and looked in the bathroom mirror, she rolled her eyes as it occurred to her that Eric had _definitely_ enjoyed their bonding activities. Men, she mentally groused, whether human or vampire, in some ways they were all the same.

Later when she emerged from the bathroom, she found Eric back in the bed. "I'll shower, then I will take you somewhere to eat. Pam has informed me that her pet informed her that humans need more food than what she brought you. I know of a diner you may enjoy."

Sookie laughed and agreed, then quickly looked away when he rose unashamedly from the bed in all his naked glory. He laughed huskily. "Go ahead and look; you might see something you like."

"Gaagh," she exclaimed as she headed for the safety of the central room.

In record time Eric showered and changed clothes, all the while concentrating on becoming familiar with the new bond. He found it very pleasant knowing how Sookie was feeling at any given time. He might not know why she was feeling a particular way, or why her emotions changed so quickly, but still, it was a nice feeling; one that he thought he might could become accustomed to rather quickly.

An hour later Sookie took the last sip of her coffee and shoved her empty plate away. The "diner" Eric had chosen was actually a small but elegant supe-owned establishment that she'd never heard of before. The food was excellent as evidenced by her now empty plate of country ham, eggs, toast, and gravy. The portions were very generous, but as hungry as she had been, she was glad.

"Finished?" Eric had enjoyed watching Sookie eat while he returned area business emails on his phone. While the eating habits of humans were usually vaguely nauseating, he admired both her gusto and her neatness.

"Yes, and it was really good." She dabbed her mouth with her napkin one last time and looked around for the restrooms. She was finding out that with vampires, humans needed to take "human moments" whenever the opportunity arose.

The waitress, whose mind was fuzzy when Sookie had tried to read her and whose rampant flirting Eric had completely ignored, returned at that moment with the check, so she got directions to the restrooms and went to tend her business.

Eric was waiting for her just outside the restroom door when she emerged, and put his arm around her waist to escort her out of the small restaurant. Sookie pretended to not notice the two vampires and their pets, as she'd read that they were called, waiting to be seated. Eric nodded once in their direction to acknowledge their presence but otherwise ignored them as he he quietly led her out the door.

Once seated in her vehicle, with him driving of course, they headed toward Bon Temps.

"Eric," she asked, "when am I going to drive my SUV?"

"When I'm not," he casually answered. "And before you pout, which you do so beautifully, by the way, you have to keep in mind that my reflexes and vision are highly superior to your own. It is literally safer for me to drive than you."

"Hrumph," she groused, even though she saw the wisdom in his words. "So," she started a few minutes later. The scenery between Shreveport and Bon Temps wasn't all that fascinating. "Can you feel me now?"

They both chuckled at her reference to an over-played commercial on American tv. "Yes, I can, surprisingly so. I had not expected your emotions to come through so loud and clear...not from one exchange, at any rate. How about me?" He mentally kicked himself for asking - it sounded so...needy, but the words escaped before he could stop them.

"I can! I'm not sure what I expected, but yeah, I can feel you faintly in my blood, but more in the back of my mind, I guess."

"And does this bother you?" His ass was getting tired of him kicking himself.

"Nooooo," she began pensively, "I don't think it does?" She ended on a question as she thought for a minute. "It's going to take some time to get used to having you in my brain, but it's not a bad feeling. How about you?"

He had hoped that she wouldn't ask, so, of course, she did. But that didn't mean he had to tell her everything. "I'm certain I shall become accustomed to it." He figured that she didn't need to know just how used to her he already was, and how triumphant he felt at having already bonded with her. Damn...he bet she could feel that.

Quickly changing the subject, he asked, "Do you have in mind what you're going to pack when we reach your home?"

Knowing a change of subject when she heard one, Sookie snarked, "Which will be in about 8 seconds as fast as you're driving?" She laughed, then added, "I wish I knew how long this is going to go on so I'd know what all to pack, but yeah, I have an idea."

By mutual consent silence reigned supreme until they reached her driveway. She had him stop so she could collect her mail, which he did then handed to her.

She was flipping through envelopes and junk mail as he drove down her driveway and up to the front of her house when she suddenly heard him snarl.

"Sookie, do you always leave your front door open when you're not home?"

.

.

.


	17. Chapter 17

Dodge and Chase

Sookie ignored the way in which Eric had phrased his question and stared up at her home from the SUV. She lowered her window and studied the house. "There's no one in there," she observed. "Vampire or otherwise."

Eric did the same and subtly sniffed the air. "There is nothing with a heartbeat that matches yours," he agreed, though the scent of Were was unmistakable.

"Is it my imagination, or can I see better?"

Eric cocked his eyebrow, though Sookie was not looking at him. "See, smell, feel," he said. "Everything has been sharpened. It is the effect of my blood."

"Huh."

"Your body is still human," he reminded her, exiting the vehicle and appearing outside her door.

She nodded and let him help her from the car. "For the record," she said, keeping a step behind him as they approached the porch, "no, I never leave my front door open."

The porchlight automatically went on as they climbed the steps, and Sookie gasped at her mangled front door. "No one is here," Eric repeated blandly, examining the splintered wood.

"My grandfather built that door," she said sadly, shaking her head.

"He did a fine job," Eric admitted. "The wood was unfortunately not a match for Weres."

"You can tell?"

"Yes." The pair entered the living room, and Eric felt Sookie poke him in the arm. She gestured to the light switch and he nodded.

"Jesus," Sookie murmured, taking in the sight. The room had been literally turned upside down, and she winced as her eyes moved from object to object. Her breath hitched as she fought the tears welling up in her eyes at what had been done to her late grandmother's home.

"Come," Eric commanded. "We will look through the rooms and determine what is missing."

The kitchen and remaining rooms looked like the living room, and Sookie and Eric paused in the smallest bedroom, her hand flying to her chest. "Everything you sent me!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Eric!" The plastic and metal remnants of her new office equipment littered the floor, and she stepped tentatively further into the room. "I didn't even get to use any of it!"

He waved off her apology and surveyed the room. "Replaceable," he said quietly. "Do you see your computer?"

She eventually spotted her laptop, and the new one Eric had bought for her, heaped together in one of the corners. "Yeah." They'd both been ripped in half and obviously stomped on. "They're both here."

That surprised him. "They are intact?"

"Well," Sookie speculated, shifting the pieces with her foot. "They're ruined." She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "There's nothing on them, if that's what you mean. I never sent you anything from them." As best she could remember, there was nothing in her home that linked her to Eric. "We should check upstairs."

The destruction halted at the steps to the upper level of the house, and Sookie was both surprised and confused to see her bedroom intact, as well as the other rooms.

"No one has been up here," Eric confirmed, deep in thought. "I wish to look outside," he said suddenly, dragging her with him.

Sookie fought to keep up with his long strides and huffed in annoyance. "Eric," she complained.

"What is this?" he demanded, pointing to a small shuttered door on the foundation of the house. There had been one like it on three of sides of the home. "Is there a basement?"

"Uh uh," she replied. "There's a crawl space between the first floor and the foundation. Why?"

He pointed to the flowers that had been trampled and the marks left in the dirt beneath the door. "They were looking under your home."

Sookie frowned. "For what?"

"For me." He stared at her, expecting her anger in what had been brought into her life and was surprised to not sense any.

"Then they're even more stupid than I thought," she murmured. "So they must have been here today...during the day."

Eric agreed. The scents were strongest on the objects of her home, as opposed to the air. "You know Weres?"

She shrugged and headed back toward the front porch. "Some," she replied vaguely. "None that would do this."

"Which ones do you know?"

"Probably the same ones you do, Eric," she replied distractedly, shaking her head as she again examined the living room. "You're getting off track. They took nothing," she started, ticking her points off on her fingers as she spoke. "They busted through the door, so they obviously weren't going for stealth. They left us a huge message," she emphasized, her eyes widening. "Maybe they figured they couldn't snatch you outside Fangtasia, so they sent in the big guns to nab you while you slept." Sookie paused and examined the large vampire in her living room. "Can you hire a vampire to kill another one?"

Eric gave her question serious consideration. "I would not use the term 'hire.'"

"Okay. Can you force one?"

"Of course. What is your point?" he asked.

"This fits," she said, gesturing to the mess. "But it doesn't. So far, someone's picking off your employees, trying to get to you. But you're saying, the Weres were here for you, not me."

"I did not say that," Eric argued.

"Fine. You believe they were looking for you?" she asked, and he nodded. "Well they've really shown their hand, and I have to ask, why? I mean, now there's no doubt someone's after you." The whole thing reminded her of a mafia movie, that somehow, 'war' had been declared.

"You believe it is a vampire."

"I have no idea, but even Weres aren't this stupid." The ones Sookie knew, were smart enough to cover their tracks, if they were serious about something. They also rarely bothered with anyone outside their own circles, though she'd heard of 'rogue' ones hired for a specific purpose. "Have you pissed of the Shreveport pack?" she asked honestly.

"How do you know about packs?"

Sookie rolled her eyes in frustration. "This wasn't a pack! That's my point! Good Lord, how many different supernaturals have to be hired before you admit someone else is behind it?" Something rolled through him before he could hide it, and she looked at him sharply. "What are you hiding, Eric?"

A lifetime of probing the thoughts of others had left her particularly adept at examining him through their bond, and Eric flinched at the intrusion. "Stop," he said quietly.

"This is how it's going to be for the next two months?" she asked sarcastically. "What was the point of sharing, if you're just gonna try to hide?" She felt his anger flare at her rudeness, and she quickly backtracked. "I shouldn't have said that, sorry." Sookie knew what had happened weighed heavily on Eric. She could feel it. "I guess I should call the police. I don't think I can collect on my homeowner's insurance without a report-"

"I will replace the contents of your home," he said quickly, interrupting her. It would be a meager sum, he assumed, judging the condition of her worn surroundings. "We cannot afford the time or interest it would take to call in the authorities. I suggest you pack your belongings as if you did not expect to return."

Sookie stared incredulously at Eric, but kept her mouth shut. She was quickly learning it was best not to argue with him in time of duress. She nodded and hustled up to her bedroom, and Eric followed her there, smiling as she mumbled under her breath.

"I do not intentionally try to be 'bossy,'" he lied, smirking in the doorway. "I am...expedient."

"Mm hmm," she grunted, pulling her only suitcase from her closet. "Right."

"It is only the rooms downstairs," he reasoned. "Someone will come tomorrow to replace your door."

"Alright," she said simply, emptying the contents of her drawers into the open luggage.

"We can purchase anything you might need."

"Sounds like a plan." She slammed the lid and sat on it, fumbling with the latches.

"Sookie."

Her head shot up and she glared at him. "What? I'm doing what you said!" she snapped, finally clicking things into place. "I'm not fighting you, am I?"

"No," Eric said cautiously.

"I'm sure you've had to up and leave plenty of times in your life, right?" she asked, trying to heave the overstuffed suitcase toward the door.

He gently brushed her hand aside and picked up the bag. "I have," he agreed, taking her other hand in his. Eric realized what was bothering her, and he pulled her closer to kiss the top of her head. "Nothing will happen to you."

"What if I'd been here?" she asked shakily.

"You were not. You were safe with me."

"Am I?"

Eric looked into her blue, watery eyes and smiled. "No harm will come to you."

"What about you?" she asked, surprising him. "How mad does someone have to be, to take out a whole family? I'm worried for all of us, not just you."

"Pam is safe," he said reassuringly, ignoring her question. It was a subject that had come up before, from both Sookie and his Child. "We will discuss this more later." It was not the time to voice his concerns about his Maker, or why someone was striking out at those around him.

Downstairs, Sookie grabbed some of the photos from the wall and a set of keys from the kitchen. She found Eric at the front door, dragging and wedging it into place. "It is uneven enough to stay in this position, I believe, until it can be replaced. Does your brother have any reason to enter your home?" Eric asked, brushing his hands off on his pants.

Would he, Sookie wondered? "He's got keys, but they won't work on the new door, right?" She pursed her lips and shook her head. "If my car's not here, I doubt he'd try to come in." Jason knew she had taken a new job in Shreveport, she had texted him herself, so it was unlikely that it'd register with him, if she weren't home. They didn't see each other much, after their Gran had passed.

"I would like for you to concentrate," Eric explained as they buckled themselves into the SUV. "We will drive longer than necessary, and I would like to know that we are not being followed."

"Sure," Sookie said amiably and settled into her seat. At first, she assumed they were headed back to Shreveport, but then they traveled back the way they had come, and she suspected they were maybe staying in Monroe. After another couple of hours or so of harebrained driving, Sookie wasn't sure they were even in Louisiana anymore.

"I think it's safe to say no one followed us," she remarked drily, getting out and stretching her arms upward. It was too dark to see properly, but she made out a cluster of small cabins, and she thought she could hear running water nearby. "We're deep somewhere, aren't we?"

"Indeed." Eric handed her a large refrigerated bag and pulled her suitcase from the trunk. "Wait there, I will return momentarily," he instructed, pointing to one of the cabins before peeling off in the SUV.

Sookie gave up on struggling with her luggage and stood in front of the small structure. "Is that the Mississippi I hear?" she asked jokingly, sensing him zoom up behind her.

"A stream that it feeds, yes," he confirmed. "We are near Natchez."

"Wow." They had driven clear across the state, which confused her. "What are you going to do about Fangtasia?" she asked.

Eric led her to the rear of the cabin and guided her inside. He closed the door behind them, and it was several seconds before she could see. Sookie blinked at the sudden light and peeked around the room. There was one main room, with a bed and couch on one side, and a small kitchen area on the other. There were no windows, despite how it had appeared on the outside, and she realized, the bunker-like structure was as good as it was going to get.

"Fangtasia is closed for repairs for a few days," Eric said, dropping their bags near the bed and taking out his phone. He'd asked her to turn hers off before they left Bon Temps, and she wondered what he was doing with his. "Water damage," he explained, waggling his eyebrows. He laid his phone on the small table near the bed and began removing his boots.

"Really?" Sookie asked, surprised.

"No," he replied, smirking. "But it relieves me of any obligation to my Queen for the next few days. Pam will remain in the Area, should anything come up." Eric gestured to a door beside the refrigerator. "The bathroom is through there."

Sookie pulled the few toiletries she had from her bag, along with her pajamas, and checked out the bathroom. Much to her surprise, there was running water, and she found clean linens in one of the cupboards. The toilet hadn't been used in a while, but it worked, to her relief.

"It's not so bad," she said, entering the living area and stuffing her things back into her bag. "How long will we have to stay?" Sookie ignored that Eric had stretched himself across the bed in nothing but his underwear and unzipped the large nylon bag he'd left on the small kitchen counter. "You brought me food?" she asked in disbelief.

"Pam left it in the car for you."

"Where is she?" Sookie asked, distracted by the wrapped sandwiches and various small containers of fruit and vegetables. "Chocolate!" she exclaimed, holding several candy bars above her head, and Eric laughed.

"She is safe."

Sookie shoved what she could into the small refrigerator and cracked open a bottle of water. "Do you actually know?" she asked, trying, and failing, not to notice his long muscular frame.

"Her exact location does not matter. I know she is alive, and if I need her, she will come to me," he said simply. He shifted on the bed, observing the way Sookie's eyebrows rose as his hips did.

"I thought we weren't using our phones."

"I am her Maker, Sookie. If I mentally summon her, she will come." Eric crooked his finger, beckoning Sookie toward him. "She has no choice," he went on softly, his smile widening as Sookie moved tentatively to the bed. "It is convenient, in times such as these."

"Unless she were being followed," Sookie reasoned, sitting primly on the edge farthest from him.

"Then I would sense her distress," Eric countered. "And I would absolve her from my call." He slowly raised his arm in invitation, waiting patiently for Sookie to come closer. "I would not lead her where she would not, or could not go, if not necessary."

Eric's contentment rumbled through his chest as Sookie laid against him, settling herself into his side. "Alright, you made your point," she grumbled, throwing her leg over his and yanking the cover over them. They were silent for a few minutes, until she yawned. "You can't do that to me, can you? Summon me?"

"Would you like me to?" Eric countered.

Sookie shrugged and gripped him tighter, seconds away from falling asleep in her strange employer's arms. "I don't think I'll ever get that far away, will I?" she asked softly, drifting off.

Eric hoped not.


	18. Chapter 18

Dodge and Chase, Chapter 18

Eric was incensed. Because of her association with him... A low growl escaped from his throat as he remembered seeing the fear on Sookie's face when she had seen the broken door to her house. He leaned his head back into the pillow and tried to stifle the noise. His Sookie's life was in danger, and it was somehow because of him. Previously he'd been aware that there was the possibility that those looking for him would go after her, and his ingrained survival instincts, as well as his gut, demanded that he take appropriate precautions to ensure her safety. But when he had seen the door to her old, weathered house hanging wide open... He mentally thanked every god in his arsenal that he'd had enough sense to keep her with him. If she had been home...alone...

He consciously loosened his hand's tightening grip on her long hair and shifted a bit to ease Sookie's head more comfortably into the space between his neck and shoulder. As he tightened his other arm about her waist, he realized that the events of the past few days were already taking a toll on her. She shouldn't have fallen asleep this quickly. As a healthy human, she should have had at least several more hours of energy, which he had intended to put to great use, but instead she had fallen asleep almost as soon as she'd stretched out beside him.

With a sigh he acknowledged to himself that he didn't begrudge her the rest she needed, especially as things were bound to get worse before they got better. Didn't they always? But what kind of life was this for a human? Especially a woman? Especially _his_ woman?

How much longer would he have to keep dragging her from safe house to safe house? How much longer would she put up with it? And, with her telepathy, he wasn't sure he could command her to remain with him for her own safety if it did come to that.

He certainly didn't want it to come to such extreme measures, especially since he knew that summoning her wouldn't work. Unbeknownst to her, and he truly hoped she never found out, he had already attempted it earlier when they were in her bedroom and she had gotten upset. He had felt a curious desire to ease her obvious distress and had called her to him, wanting her to leave that suitcase on the bed and come closer to him so that he could fold his arms about her and draw her close.

From his observations, she hadn't noticed even his strongest attempt. So, if he couldn't summon her from less than three feet away, he highly doubted he'd be able to command her to any action, either. Oddly, that thought pleased him, even if it prevented him from commanding her to safety.

And with everything that was going on, her safety was a definite concern.

Fuck, if this was simply a matter of fighting, he'd have it made. Fighting was what he did best, well, after fucking, of course. But, no. This just _had_ to be a case of "cloak and dagger" bullshit. While he excelled in strategy and in solving intricate puzzles, he much preferred hand-to-hand combat. Straightforward battle was much more his style. There was nothing like watching your opponent bleed because of wounds you had inflicted yourself...none of this asinine business of hiding behind others to do your dirty work. Cowards.

He just needed to find out exactly who the cowards were so that he could deal with them, and be done with all this chaos so he could get back to the important things...like wooing his Sookie.

Slowly he inhaled, taking Sookie's clean sunshine and flowers scent deep into his lungs. At least they'd bonded. He had to take solace in that, and in the fact that she didn't seem to mind staying around. Of course, he _was_ her best bet for safety, even if he preferred to believe she chose to stay because of her perfectly understandable attraction to him.

He smirked knowing that attraction would only increase since he'd given her his blood...his blood which should start inspiring his future lover to have certain dreams any day now. He couldn't wait.

As the power of the sun eventually pulled him under, his last thought was that at the end of all this, he would owe her an _enormous_ bonus.

•**0~*~*~*~*~*~•0•~*~*~*~*~*~0•**

Late that afternoon, Sookie woke up once again in bed with the huge blond vampire. She stretched, then automatically nestled her head back into the hollow of his shoulder and closed her eyes. The arm that had been wrapped around her had somehow fallen in such a way that his hand was cupping her ass. She wasn't very surprised.

Although she'd slept pretty well, she'd kept having all sorts of crazy dreams about Eric. And about sex...with Eric. Lots...of sex...with Eric.

She shivered as she recalled a particularly vivid one and squeezed her thighs together as she remembered in excruciating detail what his hand had been doing in that same spot that was now tingling and throbbing for his touch.

With a frustrated curse, she threw off the covers and went to the bathroom. After a nice hot shower in the small stall, she towel-dried her hair as best she could and changed into one of her older sundresses. Sometimes the comfort of favorite old clothes was just what she needed.

A thorough prowl through the small cabin proved it was just as boring as she'd thought it would be, but at least there were some books in the small set of shelves. She finally gave up and selected a tome about the Carpathian War figuring if nothing else it'd put her back to sleep.

Forty-five minutes later she realized that she had yet to turn even a single page. Instead, her mind insisted upon reliving some of the crazy, sexy dreams she'd had. Curiosity might have killed some poor cat, according to that horrible old saying, but it also sure kept her brain busy trying to make sense of the more nebulous images that had paraded themselves through her mind during her sleep.

Flickers of Eric in his expensive silk underwear slowly kissing his way up her body, leaning over her, kissing her neck and nipping at her collarbones ran through her mind... Hazy images of him using one finger to rip open the front of that new red and white flowered sundress (that she had yet to even wear) and seeing his blond hair pool on her chest as he closed his lips around one pink nipple and started sucking on it while he rolled the other one between his thumb and finger...

Sookie hastily rose from the couch and grabbed a package of prepared fruit from the small fridge and one of the plastic utensil packs from the bottom of the food bag. As she sat back down on the couch, she automatically gazed over toward Eric as she struggled to open the plastic wrapping holding the spork, mini napkin and tiny packet of salt hostage. She was really glad Pam had thought to grab something for her to eat with.

Even though she knew he was in his unresponsive day sleep, she couldn't help but wonder how he was able to rest so easily knowing that God-only-knew-who was after them. But then, did vampires even dream?

Immediately erotic bits and pieces of her strange dreams flooded her mind. After sneaking yet another glance of Eric to make sure he was still asleep, she guiltily gave in and savored the images of hot dream sex with the big blond vampire while she ate her mixed fruit salad. Eventually she admitted to herself that although she hadn't tried very hard to stop the tempting memories, she was positive that strawberries would now always remind her of Dream Eric's big blond head between her wide-spread thighs. She couldn't believe the things he'd been doing to her with his tongue and fangs...and she _really_ couldn't believe the things _she'd_ been doing to _him_ when he was finished...

With shaking knees and firm resolve she stood and cleaned up after her "meal" and grabbed a chocolate bar. She nibbled on it as she mourned once again the lack of a coffee pot, her thoughts turned toward home, which inevitably lead to her broken front door. She needed to ask Eric if he had been able to contact someone to have it fixed, but still, her grandfather had built that door with love, pride, and his own two hands. It could never be replaced, no matter how beautiful the new door might be. She just...she just missed home, but was damn glad she hadn't been there when those drainers or thugs had broken in.

She couldn't believe someone would just burst into her home like that, and sincerely doubted they would have offered her flowers if they _had_ found her home alone. Sookie sat back down on the sofa with a soda in her hand and wondered how long she would have to live this way, roaming from location to location, spending her days bored nearly to tears.

At this rate if the drainers or whoever didn't kill her, she'd probably die of decaffeinated boredom instead. If this kept up much longer, she would absolutely have to see about buying a small coffee maker and supplies. And, honestly, was she even getting paid for all this? Her entire life had been turned upside-down!

She allowed herself a minute to fully embrace her inner pout and wallowed in a brief but satisfying bout of self-pity and confusion. Her life was currently nothing like anything she'd ever planned or wanted.

However, as much as all this _was_ complicating her life, she couldn't complain too much, not really. It's not like any of this was Eric's fault; hell, they were after him, too, and he seemed to be handling all this chaos pretty well, even if she highly suspected that he wasn't telling her everything. He knew what to do, and how to keep them safe and at least semi-comfortable for the most part. At this remote of a location, the running water in the bathroom was a definite bonus. And goodness knows he'd had the best mattresses on the planet so far.

Suddenly a dream image of Eric, large as life and naked in all his glory, floated into her head and settled in for a good, long visit. He was lowering his body atop hers, his hands holding hers on each side of her head, pressing her into said mattress. She could almost feel how he'd captured her lips with his...how his thighs had parted her own...his groan rumbling through his broad chest when she'd returned his kiss full force...

"Future lover of mine, what thoughts are you thinking to put such a lovely blush on your face," came his deep, smug voice out of the blue.

Startled, Sookie looked up and saw the vampire of her dreams sitting up on that mattress with the covers down around his hips. At least he was still somewhat dressed she thought with mixed feelings.

"Nothing," she squeaked out, then looked at her watch. "Isn't it too early for you to be up? Not that I'm complaining," she rushed to add at the look on his face, "but it's not all that late yet."

Sensing a confusing blend of both the remnants of her arousal and her current trepidation, Eric chose to continue talking rather than pursuing his interest. For now.

"Older vampires can often rise before the sun sets, and before you ask," he injected with a smirk, "I'm well over 1,000 years old, and the sun will set in about 10 minutes anyway."

Stunned, Sookie's mouth fell open for a brief moment before she caught herself. "You're over 1,000 years old? Really?" She examined his face in minute detail (once again). "But you don't look a day over maybe 25 or 26!"

Sookie grinned to show him that she was joking, even though she was still reeling inside. 1,000 years old! She couldn't imagine the things he'd seen or done or experienced...the history he had both seen and caused. She had a distinct feeling that maybe she didn't want to know some of his past, but she was highly curious about most of it.

Eric's voice brought her attention back to him as she had evidentially been caught up in her thoughts longer than she'd realized. "Why don't you come back to bed while we talk about it." He waggled his brows suggestively, which brought a bright laugh from Sookie.

"Oh no, I don't think so, not when you've undoubtedly got over 1,000 years of experience seducing unsuspecting maidens."

"That simply means that I have over 1,000 years' worth of experience in the art of seduction. Care to test my skills? I'm certain I can make it worth your while." The seductive tone of his voice assured Sookie that he undeniably would.

Just as she was about to more-than-regretfully decline his 'kind' offer, and she was seriously surprised by just how badly she wanted to climb onto that superb mattress with him, his expression changed in the blink of an eye from playfully seductive to absolutely serious.

He held up a finger to request her silence as he seemed to strongly concentrate on something that she couldn't hear, even with her newly enhanced abilities.

Through the new bond, Sookie could sense that he was intensely focusing on something, and that he was curious and very mildly concerned. He wasn't alarmed in any way, which she thought was a very good thing.

A few moments later, just as Sookie's own curiosity was about to get the best of her, he finally spoke as he rose from the bed.

"Are you packed and ready to go, or do you need to gather your things?"

.

(A/N: Don't forget: **JR Watkins** writes the odd chapters - no pun intended - and I write the even ones.)

.


	19. Chapter 19

Dodge and Chase

"Am I supposed to be 'concentrating'?" Sookie asked distractedly, digging through her bag for the chocolate bar she was sure was there. They'd been on the 425 for about twenty minutes when it occurred to her she'd done little more than think about food.

"No." While Eric hadn't been rude, he'd been preoccupied since hurrying her from the cabin and into the SUV.

Sookie sighed and sank back into her seat empty-handed. "Okay."

"What is leaving you unsatisfied?" he asked.

Sookie blinked and blushed in the darkened car. "Unsatisfied?" She peeked sideways at him and swallowed. Sookie doubted there was very little involving Eric that would leave her unsatisfied. 'Dissatisfied' was a whole different story.

Eric reached across to gently grab her chin until he could see her face. "What has you unhappy, Sookie?"

She croaked something unintelligible and cleared her throat. "Coffee," she repeated with emphasis. "I'd could use some coffee."

She was lying and he let it go. "Simple enough. We will stop at the next exit."

Casting out with her head, Sookie snickered and further rolled her head against the seat toward Eric. "Damn, he drives fast," she mimicked, in a low, deep drawl.

"Is that what you're hearing?" He'd barely paid attention to the traffic, his thoughts too wrapped in the woman seated next to him. She felt subdued, and what he had interpreted as unhappy. It mattered to Eric, in that since they'd exchanged blood, he'd only felt her to be...excited. About everything.

"Mostly," she mused, turning her attention back to her window. "The rest are zooming by too fast for me to catch."

The SUV suddenly slowed, and Sookie frowned at the appearance of a familiar fast-food chain sign. "Is coffee available here?" Eric asked, smoothly exiting the highway.

"Yep," she said, immediately regretting her lack of enthusiasm. "Yeah, it's great, thanks." Sookie straightened herself up in her seat and reached for her bag, only to have Eric gently pull her arm back.

"Is there anything else you would like?" he asked. That she expected to pay somewhat amused, and disappointed, him. He studied the large lit sign as they waited in the drive-thru line.

"I'm good, thanks." If their lives were going to go on as they had for the last couple of days, Sookie figured she should probably watch what she ate. "This stuff's fine every once in awhile, but it's not the real thing," she explained.

Eric understood more than she realized. He also understood in that moment, that Sookie needed a home. Humans needed homes.

"Hey," she said, shaking his hand. "You okay?"

He nodded and pulled to the window, watching as she leaned across him to place her order. His hand went automatically to pet her long hair, and he smiled when her words faltered. She threatened to spill the hot liquid on him, and he laughed.

"I have never done that before," Eric commented once they were back on the highway.

"Hm, exciting, isn't it?" Sookie replied, humming into her drink. It was sweet and somewhat bland, but it was coffee.

"It is convenient, I suppose."

"I heard there's a chain somewhere up north that has artificial blood, like, with the soda dispensers," she said excitedly. "Can you imagine?"

Eric could not. "Interesting." He could not envision a scenario that would lead him inside an establishment to purchase blood from a machine.

"Couldn't see that flying south of the Mason-Dixon line," she added, sipping her drink. "Must be in New York." Sookie had never been, but she reasoned it would have to be in such an area. "Or run by vampires. Y'all would be the experts on how to market that, you should look into it."

In his mind, he already was. "Pam contacted me," he said, changing the subject.

"Are we meeting her in Monroe?" Sookie guessed, nodding at the sign for the town as they whizzed past it.

"Yes." Eric had intended for them to go to ground in a place Pam kept there, but he wasn't sure. He wanted to discuss it with his Child. Eric had felt her call to him, and while Sookie had hurriedly packed up her things in the cabin, he'd turned on his phone for the briefest of seconds. "We may not stay."

"Alright," Sookie replied agreeably. Her words, he was learning, were for the most part in synch with her feelings, and Eric once again marveled at her lack of duplicity. When Sookie did not feel truthful to him, it seemed to be regarding her emotions, as opposed to her actions. He credited her telepathy as the explanation.

Eric felt her curiosity spike and looked at her. "What?"

"That sign," she said, pointing to the billboard above the off-ramp they'd taken. She turned to follow it with her eyes as Eric drove.

"What of it?" he asked.

"I never really noticed their symbol," she replied.

"For the Fellowship of the Sun?"

"Yeah," she said slowly. It had caught Sookie's attention, and she wracked her brain for the connection. "I've seen it somewhere, but not like that one." Suddenly she smacked Eric excitedly and gasped. "That guy's pin!" she exclaimed. She'd seen it in James Weston's memories, on the lapel of the man in the brown suit. "Mr. Brown! Or the deacon...the good deacon, whatever they were calling him." Sookie hiked her thumb over her shoulder and smiled. "That symbol was on his pin," she said confidently.

Eric was unsure of the importance of what she'd said. "Do humans wear such pins?"

"Well, sure, people wear all kinds of pins, but not like that. His was small and gold, I think. You see them on people who want you to know their affiliation, like politicians." She thought for a moment and nodded to herself. "It's discreet, but yeah, it fits. I told you he looked 'church-y'. Even the drainers called him Deacon behind his back." Sookie was sure, the man in the brown suit belonged to the Fellowship of the Sun. "I don't think that's a pin you'd wear lightly, Eric."

"You do not like it," he replied, feeling her disgust.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given their views," she huffed. "But yeah, I don't think too much of a member of a vampire-hating organization disguised as a church, who's addicted to V and has a side business of draining."

Eric was less moved. "He is taking an opportunity," he reasoned, smirking at the immediate look of shock on Sookie's face.

"He is supposedly a man of God," she bit out, emphasizing each word. "And why on Earth are you defending him?" she asked hotly.

"I am not," Eric answered calmly, turning onto a dirt road that led to what looked to Sookie to be an abandoned farm. "You said it yourself, that you believe he is not the one organizing this attack. If that is the case," he said coolly, pulling up to a large dilapidated barn, "then he, too, is part of someone else's opportunity. A very clever part."

Sookie sighed and took in his words. "It's still wrong."

"Everyone cannot be good." Aside from her, he could not recall the last human he could consider as such.

"Are you being serious?" she asked, looking at Eric in disbelief. "Are we really having some kind of morality lesson?"

"Hardly. In the end, they will all be dead. One way or the other." He may have released Robbie back into his environment, but Eric had no intention of leaving anyone connected to this plot alive to tell the story.

"So it doesn't matter, what happens in between?" Sookie wondered what the hell had gotten into him, to be so blase about the whole thing.

"It is a waste of time, I can assure you, to judge someone on principle," Eric hissed, tired of her inability to see the larger picture. "If you stop to question every action, every decision, if you weigh every action against what you believe someone to be, you will lose."

"So don't expect too much, because you'll only be disappointed?" Sookie shot back.

"Exactly." Perhaps she did see.

Sookie was breathing hard, and she didn't want him to see her tears, though she knew that was impossible. "Well, that is just...depressing," she said, struggling to push open her door.

"How do you not know this, given your gift?" Eric asked honestly, gesturing to her head. "This deacon hides behind his church, to promote his hatred. He funds drainers, to fuel his addiction. You wish to take it personally." If she were this upset over some worthless humans, how would she survive amongst vampires?

Eric zipped around the SUV to block her as she stepped from the vehicle. "Sookie," he said seriously, staring at her intently. "If at the end of this, there stands a vampire, responsible for all this destruction, how will you feel?"

"It won't matter who it is, Eric. Vampire or human. I'll feel sad, I guess. And glad, when we figure it out," she added, wiping her cheeks. "Bad is bad, and I wouldn't judge them based on principle."

She was telling the truth, and it surprised him. "You are compassionate," he said suddenly, as if it just occurred to him.

"And you're a hypocrite," she said, wincing at her own rudeness. "If none of this...in between stuff matters, then what do you care, how I'll feel at the end of this? I'm a means to an end, right?" Sookie asked, challenging him.

Eric blinked, confused at how they'd reached this point. "Of course not."

Sookie poked him gently in his broad chest. "Hypocrite."

He mentally conceded, that he'd hired her as just that, an expendable human hired for a specific task. "What do you care, then?" he forced himself to ask.

Sookie's eyes welled up again, and she took a large breath. "I care about you. I care about Pam. I care that what's being done is wrong, and that maybe I can help."

He was silent for a moment, staring at her. "You will help," he said quietly. Eric realized, he needed to tell her about his Maker and about his...fears. How he thought he'd be able hide himself from Sookie's perceptiveness, especially after sharing his blood with her, was beyond him. "Come."

Eric led her through the darkened barn, to a trap door, hissing something into the black hole it revealed. The opening was suddenly illuminated, and he gestured for Sookie to climb down the ladder. "Pam," he said, and Sookie nodded, lowering herself onto the rungs. He followed, levitating beneath the heavy door as he lowered it into place.

"Holy shit, what was that?" Sookie asked, wide-eyed as he slowly descended to the ground in front of her.

"I can fly," he explained, shrugging.

She slowly shook her head. "That might be more amazing than the whole vampire thing," she said seriously.

Eric was pleased with her admiration and smirked. "I have other talents more amazing than that I could show you," he offered, "if you would like."

Sookie snorted. "I'm sure." If Eric were anything like the dreams she'd been having, he'd make her forget all about his flying talent.

A heavy door swung open behind her, and she turned to see Pam standing behind it. "Company!" she exclaimed, her face impassive. "How nice."

"Hey, Pam," Sookie managed to mumble as Eric hurried her past the vampire. "Jesus, Eric," she swore, shaking free of his grip and stumbling into the next room. She could hear the loud closing and locking of doors and wandered to one of the pretty couches in the room. "Your place is nice," she said, admiring the feminine decor. It was a formal sitting room, and Sookie wondered how Pam had managed to fit the ornate pieces through the trapdoor.

"Sit," Pam said, perching on a chair across from Sookie. Pam waited, staring across the room in a trance, while Eric paced with his phone.

After a few awkward minutes, Sookie found the nerve to stand and have a look around, grateful that no one seemed to notice. A quick peek down the hall revealed a bathroom and two bedrooms, but that was all. No kitchen. Sookie sighed and decided to use the toilet before returning to the others.

Pam sat like a statue where Sookie had left her, and Eric was slipping his phone back into his pocket. "We will return to Shreveport," he announced, rousing Pam from her stupor.

"When?" she asked.

"Tonight. The club stays closed."

Pam nodded thoughtfully. "I think that is wise. There does not seem to be a press for time concerning your abduction, or mine. Though it is strange that her home was invaded," she said, nodding at Sookie.

Sookie watched, as she assumed Eric and Pam were having a conversation, but there was so little sound or movement, she couldn't be sure. "Are you talking to each other?" she asked, amazed. Sookie realized then, how unnerving her telepathy must seem. "You can go ahead, I was just wondering."

Pam studied the pretty telepath and raised her eyebrow. On the surface, Sookie was as innocent and kind as could be, and that Pam was constantly taken with her surprised the vampire to no end. "She is priceless," Pam marveled, and Eric agreed. "What is it, do you suppose?" she wondered aloud.

"It is her," Eric answered, reassured by the blood they shared. "I want to hear about Stan Davis," he said, raising his voice to include Sookie.

"Who's Stan Davis?" Sookie asked.

Pam looked to Eric for his permission and answered the question. "He is a Sheriff in Texas. He left a message for me earlier."

"He's a friend of yours?"

"Of sorts."

Sookie eyed the two vampires and smirked. "Did he call you, Eric?" Pam wasn't a Sheriff, so Sookie figured it had to have meant something, that this Stan Davis reached out to Pam first.

Eric smiled and sank down on the couch next to her. "No, he did not," he said, stretching his long legs out in front of them, and resting an arm along the back of the couch behind Sookie. "And I am deeply offended."

Pam rolled her eyes and dismissively waved her hand. "Then perhaps you should fuck him occasionally," she suggested, and Sookie mockingly gasped, holding her hand in front of her mouth.

"He is not my preference," Eric replied, his eyes briefly roaming Sookie's body. "Continue."

Pam hesitated, enough that it caught even Sookie's attention. "He is concerned about Godric." Both women could feel how the comment affected Eric. "He wishes to help." Sookie unconsciously leaned in closer under his arm, and Pam moved to kneel on the floor by his feet. The gesture brought tears to Sookie's eyes, and she looked to Eric.

"How?"

Sookie knew Pam was choosing her words carefully. "Stan has offered his homes, and his nestmates..." Pam said, her voice trailing off.

"He knows where he is?" Eric asked, and she nodded. "He believes it is time?"

"Stan says, his King is unaware," Pam said softly.

Eric abruptly stood and disappeared into one of the bedrooms. Both women watched before coming to look at each other. "Men," Pam said drily, and Sookie fought not to laugh.

"So what's wrong with Godric?" she asked, whispering.

Pam shook her head. "I don't know, but his behavior is erratic enough to catch the attention of the local Sheriff. Eric has known something has been amiss for weeks now."

"What can he do about it?" Sookie assumed that vampires had relationships somewhat like the ones they had as humans. "If it were Eric acting weird, what would you do?"

Pam slowly rose from the floor and adjusted her shirt. "Whatever I could," she said honestly.

Sookie nodded and stood. "Me, too," she agreed, following Eric's path to the bedroom. She knocked twice on the door and slipped into the dark room. A low light switched on, and Sookie saw him on the bed, patting the spot next to him. "So I was thinking," she said, climbing over the covers and kneeling next to him.

Eric chuckled and rested a hand on her lap. He wondered if she could feel the same ache he did, small as it was, in his chest when she was near, worse when she was not. "Go on."

"If you were in trouble," she started, tracing the back of his hand with her fingers, "and needed help..." Sookie looked up into his eyes. "I'd try to help you."

"Of course you would." He hadn't known her long, but even without their bond, he knew she was speaking the truth.

"You're in trouble, Eric."

He was, in more ways than one. "You wish to help," he said, pulling her down to his chest.

"And not just because it's my job," she joked, wrapping herself around him as much as she could. "I can help. Please, let me."

"Sookie."

She felt his lips rest against the top of her head, and she gripped him tighter. "You won't be the vampire left standing there at the end of this, Eric," Sookie promised. "You won't be alone."


	20. Chapter 20

Dodge and Chase, Chapter 20

"Damn," Sookie grumbled to herself when Eric's phone rang. He was stretched out on the bed on top of the covers, and she had just gotten nice and comfortable curled into his side. At some point that night they were supposed to head back to Shreveport, but she'd been enjoying this nice break.

She watched as he strode quickly from the bedroom back to the main living area while talking on the phone and wondered briefly who James was. When she suddenly remembered, she hurriedly put her shoes back on and joined Pam on a sofa as they both waited for Eric to finish his conversation.

"That was James calling to inform me that his brother Robbie has information that I might find useful."

"Such a good little glamoured boy, isn't he," snarked Pam.

Eric agreed with a smirk, then continued. "He gave me Robbie's location. We'll pick him up and ask him a few questions. Ready?" He looked at Sookie.

"Sure. Where are we going?"

"Shreveport."

"Oh, well, since we were going there anyway," she shrugged.

Once in the vehicle, Sookie asked, "How long does it take to get from Monroe to Shreveport?" She knew they weren't that close to each other.

"About an hour and a half if you were driving."

After making a face at Eric for the "humans drive so slow" jibe, she replied, "Is Robbie going to stay in place till we get there?"

Eric thought for a moment, then extracted his phone from his pocket. After dialing a number, Sookie overheard him telling someone named Thalia to go to an address, pick up Robbie, and take him to some warehouse. He passed the phone to Sookie. "Describe Robbie."

"Thalia? Robbie seems to be about 5'8", orangish-red hair, pale skin, bad complexion, and muddy brown eyes. He's got some muscles on him, so be careful."

"Seems," snapped the gruffly feminine voice on the phone.

"Yup. I've never met the man. I've just seen him in his brother's mind, but he's definitely short, kind of stout, and his hair is a strange orangey-red color."

The voice on the other end of the conversation snorted, then hung up.

Sookie looked at the phone for a second in confusion then handed it back to Eric.

"She just hung up!"

"Thalia is not known for her...manners," he replied wryly.

"I haven't met her yet, have I," Sookie asked, already considering that she might just prefer it that way if she was as rude as that.

"No. I can promise that if you had, you'd remember her." Eric trusted Thalia to be loyal and discrete, but that was it. "Thalia considers manner useless, and to her, humans have even less value. As long as she knows that you are mine, however, she will not be a threat to you."

She shivered. "Well, that's good to know." It wasn't like she planned on striking up a conversation about the weather with the rude woman.

"Did James give you have any idea of what kind of information Robbie might have?"

"Yes. He knows that Robbie has been in contact with "the Deacon" and thinks that he might know more, but he didn't say what."

"So I need to look for anything related to this "Deacon", whose real last name is Brown, and see what else I can hear."

"No. I will glamour all the information I can from him, then send him away with the same instructions I've given James," Eric stated firmly.

At Sookie's confused look, he elaborated. "I can guarantee you that reading his mind would not be a pleasant experience. I will not ask you to read him unless it becomes absolutely necessary."

"Oh, ok," she said faintly, taken aback by his unexpected consideration.

They completed the rest of the drive in contemplative silence. As they neared the outskirts of Shreveport, Eric's voice startled her.

"Do you need to stop for a "human moment", as you call it, before we arrive at the warehouse? I doubt the facilities there would be to your standards."

"Ewe. Good idea." Sookie wrinkled her nose at the thoughts of the facilities in a warehouse. "Can you find a clean looking convenience store so I can get something to drink?"

Eric nodded, then turned off at the next exit. A few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of a well-lit store and parked. To Sookie's surprise, he accompanied her into the store and stood near the restroom doors while she had her "human moment", and then led her over to where he'd seen a refrigerated case of pre-made salads and sandwiches.

"I realize that the events of the past few days have caused a disruption to your normal routine, including your eating habits. Bluntly, I haven't seen you eating as much as even I know an adult human should." He gestured toward the pre-assembled foods. "I don't know if these items are considered healthy, but they have to be better than crunchy bagged chemicals."

With a laugh, Sookie had to agree. After choosing a fresh salad with packaged dressing, she looked at the dates on the sandwiches and chose the freshest one she could find that wasn't tuna. She was sure Eric's super-nose would appreciate that consideration. A cup of strong coffee and a bottle of water later, she was ready to go.

"Stay out here and eat, and keep the doors locked," He ordered as he pulled into the parking lot of a large, older warehouse. The only other vehicle in the lot was a small red Audi, which she guessed belonged to the rudeness that was Thalia. "I shouldn't be too long."

Sookie nodded, then began organizing her food. She doubted the dark, creepy-looking warehouse had a clean table to eat on, anyway.

Twenty minutes later, just as Sookie finished her pimento cheese sandwich, Eric emerged from the warehouse with dazed-looking Robbie and a petite, dark haired female vampire with a scowl on her face. That must be the lovely Thalia, she thought.

As they approached the red car, she caught a fleeting thought from Robbie. She immediately exited the vehicle and softly called for Eric to wait. She knew he would hear her with his souped-up vampire ears. He came to an immediate stop and commanded Thalia to do the same. Leaning against the side of the vehicle away from the trio, she ignored what had been Eric's questioning gaze and Thalia's irritated scowl as more broken thoughts seeped from Robbie's brain.

Long minutes and several disturbing and disgusting thoughts later, she figured she had gained as much as possible from Robbie's rotting brain, and quietly told Eric she was finished. She climbed back into the vehicle and barely a minute later they were en route to one of Eric's homes in the area.

"Sookie! I didn't want you..." He was angry that Sookie had listened to Robbie's foul, degenerate mind even after he'd told her that she didn't have to.

"It's ok, Eric," she quickly interrupted. "Do you know a vampire named Raban?"

"No, why?" He hated to think of what she'd seen or heard.

"Because when you and Thalia were bringing him out, I heard him thinking about that name in a sneaky kind of way." At Eric's still-irritated glance, she elaborated. "Different kinds of thoughts sometimes have a different feel to them. It's really hard to describe, but I can sometimes tell when someone is trying to be sneaky, and he definitely was." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway, from what I heard just after that, it seems that this guy Brown, "the Deacon", takes orders from some vampire named Raban. Scumbag Robbie was remembering thinking that it was weird enough that a vampire would be ok with his crew draining other vampires, but that it was even weirder that a vampire would be behind it all."

"Fuck."

"Yeah." She took a sip of her now-cold coffee, grimaced, and thought for a minute. "So, what did you learn?"

"Brown gave Robbie another list of vampires to target, including me and Pam, and that he was being pressured by his boss to complete this mission. Brown is also based in," Eric paused for a moment, "Dallas."

"Fuck."

"As you wish, but we're a bit pressed for time tonight. We only have about six hours before daybreak."

"Eric!" She couldn't believe he could possibly be thinking about sex at a time like this!

"Sookie." The lethal smirk gracing his lips and the arrogantly confident quirking of his brow made Sookie blush even more.

"So, Dallas, huh," she changed the subject.

"We will leave at first dark tomorrow night. I have an unofficial house in that area. I'll call the housekeeper and have her ready it."

"Unofficial house? Housekeeper? But you don't live there; why would you need a housekeeper?"

"For security purposes the house is not in my legal name so I consider it "unofficial". The housekeeper comes by once a week to clean and air out the house and keep it ready just in case I need it."

She nodded, somewhat dazed by the thought of having so many houses, and a housekeeper scheduled to keep an eye on a house that wasn't even used!

Eric called Pam to meet him at his home in Shreveport and told her to bring a database of some sort, then called his aforementioned housekeeper and instructed her to have the house "aired and fully stocked for a human female occupant" by the next evening.

Eventually they turned into a gated, wealthy-looking community, and Sookie marveled at the large fenced-in mansions spaced far apart and set well back from the curb. She was awfully glad she wasn't responsible for mowing those vast yards. Wait, she thought, people that rich had "vast lawns", not huge yards.

When they finally turned into what she figured was Eric's driveway, she began gathering her purse and the remains of her meal. She glanced up when she felt the vehicle stop, and watched as Eric entered a code into a small box. Apparently he entered the right one, she thought, as the gate before them suddenly opened and he drove them around the back of a very large house. He parked beside a red Corvette in the enclosed four-car garage. Beside the Corvette was a dark colored Lincoln of some sort, and beside that? A Harley. Somehow, Sookie was not surprised.

She opened the vehicle door then blinked when Eric suddenly appeared in front of her. He held his hand out for her trash, then deposited it into a garbage can on the far side of the garage just as the door stared closing.

"Timer," he remarked at her startled glance. He strode to the door, unlocked it by pressing more buttons, and flipped the lights on inside a large wet room. He asked Sookie to wait a moment while he retrieved her bag from the vehicle, so she took a look around and started to toe her shoes off since they were starting to pinch a bit. By the time she'd toed them off, he was back with her bag, so they entered the bare but uselessly well-appointed kitchen. He placed her bag on the counter and faced her.

"I regret that I have nothing to offer you to eat or drink, but I promise that the next time you are here, I will have supplies for you." It was obvious that he felt bad for not being able to offer her anything.

Wanting to erase the regret from his face, Sookie sat her purse down and waved her hand negligently. "Eric, I'm fine, honest. I need to lose a few pounds anyway," she laughed it off as she patted her shapely hip.

Before she could blink, he had her up against the kitchen wall, his hands on her ass lifting her up so that they were nose to nose.

"Sookie," he hissed, his blue eyes flashing, "I do not _ever_ want to hear another disparaging remark from you about either your weight or your figure. Do you understand me?" He was surprised by how livid her negative remark about herself made him. How could she not see how beautiful...? How could she doubt...?

Eyes widened in surprise, mouth slightly agape, Sookie could only nod.

Taking thorough advantage of her parted lips, Eric lowered his head and crushed her lips with his, impatiently thrusting his tongue against hers as he deepened the kiss. She brought one hand up to grab the bunched muscles in his broad shoulder, and slowly threaded her other hand through his silky hair. He cupped her ass in his large palms, and purred when she raised her legs to encircle his hips. He paused for a second to allow her to catch her breath as he ground himself into her center.

Long minutes later he slightly raised his head to speak against her kiss-swollen lips. "You are perfect, Sookie," he said, his voice gravelly and his massive erection blatant against her crotch. "Absolutely perfect."

Sookie shuddered when he immediately reclaimed her lips, softer this time, teasing her bottom lip with his sharp teeth, gently nipping then soothing with his cool tongue, sucking on her swollen lower lip and nipping again, over and over, before plunging his tongue into her mouth to dance and slide against her own. Soon he began thrusting his big body into hers in time with the movements of his tongue.

"Well, this is interesting. Need a third?" Pam's unexpected singsong interruption was a virtual splash of ice water down Sookie's overheated spine.

"Motherfucker!"

If her breathing had been any steadier, Eric's barely-heard explicative might made Sookie giggle since he so rarely cursed. She guessed he was as unhappy with the disturbance known as Pam as she was.

"Oops, did I do wrong?" Pam could barely control her own laughter as she placed a couple of plastic bags on the counter while inhaling deeply.

"Pamela."

Sookie almost snorted at how fast that one word, commanded in that one tone, shut the female vampire up, except that when Eric lowered her to her feet, her knees barely held her up. Grabbing the counter to her side, she steadied herself and prayed her cheeks weren't as flushed as she feared. She didn't dare look at Eric...not for a million bucks...

After unnecessarily clearing his throat, Eric asked Pam if she'd brought the "borrowed" database he'd mentioned earlier. Wisely deciding not to play around anymore, Pam quickly replied, "Yes, Master," then hurriedly produced it from her large pink leather purse.

"Good. Follow me."

Sookie brought up the rear after grabbing her water bottle from her own purse, and entered what was obviously Eric's home office. After booting up his computer, he inserted a disc, tapped a few keys, and after a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

"Robbie was hired by a Mr. Brown, also known as "the Deacon", who was himself hired by a vampire named Raban. No Maker is listed, and there's only one child, a female named Elspeth. Brown is based out of Dallas. And, according to Bill's database, so is this Raban."

"Well, that's convenient since we're going there tomorrow anyway," Pam snarked, paraphrasing Sookie's earlier statement.

"We are. You are not."

"But Eric," she began, not wanting her Maker to go into an unknown situation without her there to back him up. Beneath her snark and shoe fixation, she really did adore her Maker.

Trying not to be swayed by the beseeching look on her face, Eric replied, "No, Pam. I need you here as my Second to take over the Sheriff's duties in my absence. You can play with Stan another time." Eric knew of his child's loyalty and protective instincts toward him; he felt the same for her. But he needed her in Shreveport protecting their interests and watching their collective backs while he was away.

Realizing that she was going to be staying in Shreveport whether she wanted to or not, Pam resignedly turned her attention to the outrage at hand. "So we have a vampire hiring a so-called Deacon to drain other vampires?"

"Yes. And furthermore, this Brown may well be an actual Deacon... for the Fellowship of the Sun's so-called church."

At Pam's raised brows, he explained, "Sookie had seen in James' thoughts that this Brown wore a particular tie pin. This evening we passed a billboard advertising this church of vampire hate, and their insignia matches his pin."

Eric quickly turned to his computer, and ran a quick search. "And guess where this church of hate is based."

Sookie and Pam both replied "Dallas".

Suddenly tired and overwhelmed, Sookie threw her head back against the wall where she leaned. This was getting surreal. All roads didn't lead to Rome, after all. Apparently a suspicious number of them also led to Dallas...where they were headed the next night. Oh, joy.

Sensing her fatigue and stress, Eric suggested to Sookie that she go take a relaxing bath. At her nod, he rose and told Pam to keep looking through the "borrowed" database.

He grabbed Sookie's bag and led her down the hall with an arm about her waist until he came to a small setting room. He touched a panel on the wall, and Sookie gasped as a section of the wall slid away to reveal a door with an electronic keypad. Eric punched in some numbers, then opened the door to a set of steps leading down into darkness. He flipped on a light and motioned for Sookie to proceed.

At the bottom of the steps she came to a large bedroom remarkably similar to the one below the warehouse. This one was just larger, and subtly more masculine.

"You will not need a code to exit this area, but you will not be able to re-enter."

"So don't leave here till I'm ready, huh?"

"Exactly."

He placed her bag on the bed, then indicated a closed door.

"The bathroom is through there. Take your time. I'll be upstairs with Pam for at least another hour or so." He turned his head as he heard a noise that escaped Sookie's normal hearing. "Hang on," he said just before vamp-speeding toward the bedroom door.

Less than a minute later he was back carrying two bags.

"Pam picked you up some snack foods and more drinks. Be sure and take them up with you tomorrow if you should leave this room before I rise. I have to ask you not to leave the house for any reason, though."

"Oh, the usual, eh?" She joked tiredly.

Eric placed the bags on a nearby chair, then cupped Sookie's face in his large hands. He slowly kissed her forehead, then spoke.

"I'm sorry." He truly hated knowing that he was the cause of her fatigue and frustration. She deserved none of these hassles.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in the curve of his shoulder, taking strength in his tall, muscular frame and in his arms as he lowered them to hold her close.

"It's not your fault, Eric. It's a pain, but it's just the way things are for now. It won't be like this forever."

"No, it will not," he resolutely promised as he lowered his nose to slide along the curve of her neck. "We'll go to Dallas at first dark, and we'll come home as soon as we can."

Not wanting to leave her arms but knowing she needed a relaxing bath and then sleep, Eric gently squeezed her for a moment, placed a kiss to the top of her head, then reluctantly released her.

"Go. Take a nice warm bath, then get some sleep. I'll join you as soon as I can."

She laughed when he waggled his brows lustfully, then prowled through the bags when he left. Pam was getting better, she thought with surprise as she found several chocolate bars, three bottles and two cans of coffee drinks, a bag of powdered donuts, more gum than she'd chew in a year, two bags of chips that she actually liked, no beef jerky, no shoestrings, no tampons, and two pairs of clean socks in her size.

Shaking her head, she entered the bathroom and started the water to fill the tub. She was really too tired and overwhelmed to enjoy her luxurious surroundings, but did spot some nicely scented body wash.

After a long soak and a short shower, Sookie did feel a little better. She dried her hair enough to get by, donned her long sleep shirt, and quickly fell asleep between the extremely soft cotton sheets.

At some point she felt Eric's strong arm slide along her waist and gently turn her to rest on her back. His lips felt surprisingly warm when he lowered his mouth to hers, and his tongue felt surprisingly warm, too, as he stroked and rubbed her own.

As his kiss warmed her from the inside out, his hand trailed down her side to grab the hem of her sleep shirt, then she felt his fingertips slowly brushing up her thigh as he raised the material. He broke their kiss for her to breathe, then kissed and nipped from her lips to her jaw, and down the side of her neck while he released the sleep shirt to cup her breast.

She gasped when he gently pinched her hardened nipple and started rolling it between his thumb and fingers while he sucked and nipped the side of her neck. Moaning and slowly kicking her legs about as she searched for more, she almost came undone when his lips closed around her nipple and he started sucking.

He slid his hand palm-down across her stomach until he reached her panties, which he ripped off her with one flick of his wrist.

"Spread your legs for me, Sookie." His voice sounded every bit as gravelly as it had earlier when he'd held her against the wall.

Unable and unwilling to stop herself, she did as he asked, and was rewarded when he immediately ran a fingertip lightly across her swollen, sensitive clit. Any other time she might have been embarrassed by how very wet she was for him, but just then, she couldn't care less.

Each stroke across her clit was followed by a stronger lick and suck on her nipple and then he added a second finger and stroked her clit a little harder and faster. At some point he switched nipples and tongued and sucked harder and harder, and stroked her clit harder and faster until she came so hard she woke up.

Eric was innocently dead for the day beside her, with one arm wrapped around her waist.

Damn blood dreams.


	21. Chapter 21

Dodge and Chase

"Damn," Sookie breathed, attempting to run her shaky hands through her tangled, sweat-dampened hair. "Damn, damn, damn." She side-eyed the lifeless giant next to her while gently shoving his long arm from her lap. That Eric could give her the best orgasm she'd had to date while motionless beside her was, for some reason, disturbing.

Sookie took in the bedroom, noting that once again, a light had been left on for her. Judging from the smartness she felt in her tired eyes and the slight beginning of a headache, she knew she was awake much too soon.

Groaning, she slipped from the large bed and stretched. Never in her life had she felt so physically well, despite her current fatigue, as she had since taking Eric's blood. And judging from her fresh appearance in the mirror above the sink in his bathroom, something she hadn't seen in a few days, she'd never looked better, either. It was no wonder to her, that humans were addicted to vampire blood.

Sookie's mind flitted back to the vision of the somewhat haggard appearance of the man in the brown suit and compared it to her reflection. If she took more of Eric's blood, not that he'd offered, would she end up like the Deacon? She filed the question, along with a few others, away for later and finished in the bathroom.

Eric's home was eerily quiet. They'd spent so much of the last few days locked up or underground, Sookie realized with a start that it had been days since she'd seen the sun. She quickly grabbed her bag and headed for the stairs, not caring that once she left, she couldn't return. She knew Eric's house was safe, but Sookie desperately hoped he had curtains on his upstairs windows, as opposed to something else.

"Perfect," she sighed, pushing back the gauzy material that draped the sliding glass doors of his office. She sat on the floor, content, the afternoon sun warming her as it slowly set behind the house. After a while, and several catches of her nodding head, Sookie rose and studied the room. Eric's laptop remained open, tempting her, and she slid behind his desk. A few taps against the keys, and the screen came to life.

"Raban." Sookie's lips pursed as she shrugged her shoulders, finding the name no stranger than her own. There was barely two paragraphs' worth of information about the vampire, though it was interesting to her, that he was nearly as old as Eric's Maker. Perhaps they knew each other. She would have to ask Eric.

There was even less written of Raban's Child, Elspeth. The female vampire was listed as having been 'born' in Scotland, and 'died' in Dallas. "Shit," Sookie said, surprised. "Three months ago," she murmured. The room had darkened considerably around her, and she shuddered as Eric woke up somewhere beneath her.

"Sookie?" he called up the stairs, and she quickly shut his laptop and scrambled to her feet.

"Coming!"

Eric smirked from the bottom of the stairwell as Sookie practically stumbled into his arms as she descended the steps. "What has you so flustered?" he asked, steadying her on her feet.

"Nothing," she said breathlessly. She attempted to smooth her hair while fighting the impulse to kiss him 'hello.' "I, uh...sat by the window. It was sunny."

"It is almost dark," he said, gently guiding her back to the bedroom and gesturing for her to sit on the bed. She was hiding something, and Eric wondered what she had been doing in his home.

"Well, sure…I meant earlier." Sookie leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes. His bed was the most comfortable she'd ever felt, and she dreaded that they would have to leave it so soon. "I can't wait to come back here," she said sleepily.

Something flared sharply in Eric's chest as he watched the woman in his bed, the first in a very long time, and certainly the only human one. "Sookie," he said quietly, on her in an instant.

She screeched and stared wildly up at him, suddenly on top of her. "W-what's wrong?" she stammered.

He was everywhere, caging her with his long arms, his leg firmly wedged between hers, cool against her warmth. "You will come back here, yes?" he asked softly as his nose grazed her hairline.

Sookie knew, with his blood in her, with what he had just asked, that things had changed. It was one of those times, like when she'd been small and realized she could hear things others could not. It was a stomach-dropping moment of understanding, things would never be the same. And if she felt it, she knew Eric could, too. "After Dallas?" she asked. He moved his lips to her neck, resting them there and nodding. "Come back here with you?"

Eric raised his head to face her. He needed to hear it, what he already felt in his blood. There was too much at stake, for both of them. "Yes," he said simply.

"I already told you, you wouldn't be alone, Eric," she said kindly, placing her palm against his cheek. "I'll go with you, and I'll come back with you, too."

It wasn't enough. "As mine."

His. It was an idea as huge as the vampire pinning her to his bed. "I don't know exactly what that means," Sookie replied slowly.

Eric smiled, though she was telling the truth. "You are very clever."

"Eric," she breathed out, not sure how to say what she felt. "I don't think I could stay away from you if I tried."

He nodded and accepted what was probably the best response to be expected, given the circumstances. He had contemplated giving her more of his blood before travelling to Dallas, but the existing scent of him in and around Sookie's body would be evidence enough to another vampire of his and Sookie's connection.

"I like being around you," she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I wasn't planning on leaving."

Eric had never foreseen asking her to stay. "Good." He abruptly stood and offered his hand. "We must leave."

Within minutes, Eric had pared down the mess of clothing Sookie had haphazardly packed in her home days before, and combined it in a bag with his, insisting it would be easier to manage. It hadn't gone unnoticed by her that he only chose dresses and skimpy underwear, dismissively waving his hand when she mentioned needing at least one bra.

"We're driving?" she asked when he opened the door for her that led to the garage.

"It will afford us time to discuss our strategy," he explained. "In private." Eric's fingers flew over the screen of his phone as he simultaneously maneuvered the SUV onto the highway, and Sookie considered covering her eyes for the next two hours so as not to watch the road, either.

"So what's the plan?" she asked finally, cracking her window and sighing.

"Plan?"

"You said we would discuss strategy," Sookie explained, gesturing to the scenery whizzing by her window. "At this rate, we'll be there in less than an hour, so I guess we should get talking." She glanced at the handsome vampire's neutral expression, which didn't match the emotional turmoil she could feel inside him.

"Stan does not know of your telepathy," he said.

When Eric didn't continue, she shrugged. "Okay. Is that how you'd like to keep it? I mean, it's not like I can read vampires." Sookie was unsure that it would even come up.

"I would."

Again she waited for more, but Eric said nothing. "Are you sure about this, Eric? I don't have to go along. You said you had a house in Dallas. I could just wait there," she offered. Sookie was confused, as they so far had done little strategizing, and it felt more to her like pulling teeth. The thought made her smile, which Eric caught.

"What?" he asked, wondering what had filled her with mirth.

"Nothing," she said, still smiling. "There's a saying, when it's hard to get someone to tell you something, or like, elaborate…" Sookie looked at Eric and chuckled. "You say, it's like pulling teeth...you know," she explained. "Made me think of your fangs." Eric blinked at her, and she sighed again. "Never mind."

"Getting information from me is like...pulling teeth?" he asked.

"Yeah. Like pulling big ol' vampire fangs," she replied. "Hey! What happens if you lose yours?" Sookie asked suddenly.

"They grow back."

"Wow," she said, drawing out the word. "Does that happen with all your body parts?"

"Yes."

While Sookie found it fascinating, Eric did not seem interested in discussing it. She wondered how many more car trips she'd have to suffer and poked through the bag at her feet, finding her tablet. "So listen, I saw something on your computer I wanted to ask you about."

It was, Eric realized, what she'd been doing that evening when he rose. "Oh?"

"Do you actually know Raban?" she asked, poking at the screen in her lap.

"We have not met," Eric replied.

Sookie side-eyed him and cleared her throat. "Uh huh. Okay, what about his Child, Elspeth?"

"No."

She rolled her eyes and went on. "Did you know she died a few months ago?"

"Not until yesterday, no. What is your point?"

Sookie scanned the few notes she'd made in her tablet. "Oh! What's a renouncer?"

Eric looked at her sharply, and the SUV veered ever so slightly. "Where did you hear that?"

"That data-base said Elspeth was possibly a renouncer. Did you not read that?"

He had not. "What else did you read?" he demanded.

Sookie stiffened at his tone and frowned. "Nothing. I thought it was interesting that she died recently, and that her Maker seems to be behind a plot to end another vampire's Child. But you say you don't know her."

"Nor did I kill her," Eric replied. "A renouncer is one who has given up on his vampirism, and therefore his existence. He turns his back on our kind and chooses to die, rather than remain immortal."

"Suicide?" Sookie gasped.

Eric simply raised his eyebrows. "I do not know."

"I bet Stan Davis does," she said grimly.

"Why?"

Sookie ignored Eric's question. "Godric must know, too. Maybe he knew Elspeth." Maybe he was somehow responsible for her death, which seemed most likely to Sookie. She had to assume, that had Godric been the one to kill her, her Maker would have avenged the death by killing Godric. Since Raban was choosing to take out everyone else around the other ancient vampire, she reasoned Elspeth's death was unintentional. At least, on Godric's part. It was like a vampire soap opera, she thought.

"Do you think he could have been mated to her?" Sookie pondered aloud. "It could explain why he's been 'off' lately, like you and Pam described."

Eric mentally agreed, that such a connection between his Maker and Raban's dead Child could explain Godric's bizarre behavior of late, as well as Raban's apparent death wish for all those related to Godric. "It is a highly plausible scenario," he conceded.

"He must be heartbroken," Sookie said sadly. Both Godric and Raban, she figured. "How does he feel to you?"

Eric moved his head, as if trying to shake the notion out of it. "It does not...it is not my place. Nor would I discuss it with you." He felt sharply the hurt his comment caused her and scowled. "I cannot, do not ask me to," he said, somewhat more gently than his previous comment.

A thousand year-old connection could not, Eric felt, be simply explained by answering Sookie's innocent inquiry. While tied distantly, it was a tether that could never be broken, and had undergone so many experience-changing alterations that it was pointless to define it. Eric didn't feel the need to, and it would never occur to him to question his Maker's opinion.

"I believe the saying is, 'it is what it is,'" he joked, trying to lighten the tension inside the vehicle.

"Let sleeping dogs lie?" she asked, and he smiled.

"That, too." Eric admired Sookie greatly in that moment, for her insight and her kindness. Though he'd never admit to the latter, he enjoyed when it was directed at him. He wasn't sure he needed it, but he liked it. "I am glad you are here," he admitted, before he could stop himself from saying it.

"I know," she said, resting her warm hand on his thigh as he drove. "Why am I here, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Where else did she expect to be, other than at his side, he wondered.

"What's the cover story?" Sookie asked. "Isn't Stan Davis going to wonder why you brought a human?" Images of the fang-bangers at Fangtasia flashed through her mind, and she frowned. "Oh, God, am I supposed to be your pet, or whatever it's called?"

"Absolutely not," Eric huffed. He had thought it over many times himself, doubting that Stan would actually take the time to consider Sookie's presence, or her relationship to Eric. "I do not expect anyone to address you, nor would any explanation be required."

"Really? What am I gonna do, just stand there?"

"Or sit on my lap."

Sookie laughed. "Kneel at your feet?" she suggested.

"Do not tease," he warned, palming his cock with his hand. "His nest will be aware of our...connection. Given my status and relationship with Stan, you will not be disturbed." When she shuddered and withdrew her hand, Eric snatched it back. "You will not leave my side," he promised, and she nodded.

"How do I act?" she asked seriously.

He contemplated her question for a few moments. "You will be a human inside the nest of another Sheriff. I would suggest remaining quiet and polite."

Sookie interpreted that as being seen but not heard. "I can do that."

Eric knew that she could. Pam would be more likely to offend another vampire than Sookie. "You can," he said sincerely. "Stan Davis is a reasonable Sheriff, he will respect your presence as my human."

Sookie stilled in her seat. "Your what?"

"My human," he replied, slowing down to exit the highway. "You have not had coffee, correct? I will stop here."

"Eric," Sookie said carefully. "What does that mean, 'your human'? You hired me as your personal assistant."

"You have had my blood," he said dismissively, pulling up to a convenience store. "I do not see a drive-thru," he remarked.

"Eric!" Sookie explained. "Answer me. Please," she added. He'd had her blood, did that make him her vampire? She immediately blushed at how the thought made her feel, and Eric smirked at her knowingly. "Oh, shush," she complained, shifting in her seat. "For all I know, you might have fifty other 'your humans' stashed away."

Eric threw back his head and laughed, the thought of fifty Sookies delighting him. "Were there more of you," he mused. "No, there is only one, and she is seated next to me."

"Humph."

"Shall we?" he asked, pointing to the store. "Human, mine?"

"Does that make you my vampire?"

Eric grinned and didn't bother to stop his fangs from dropping. "Do you wish to be?"

Sookie's blush deepened further as she scrambled for an answer. "I didn't...I mean, I don't know how...I'm not trying to assume-"

"Sookie," Eric said calmly, holding his hand to her face. While he was amused with her words, he wanted there to be no further confusion. "It means you are mine, as I am yours." She nodded quickly and swallowed. "We can discuss later," he went on, leaning toward her and gently brushing his lips against hers, "how far we wish to take it. Together."

She gasped when his cool tongue slipped into her mouth, and she eagerly returned the kiss. Eric pulled away and stared intently into her eyes, silently willing her to answer.

Sookie smiled shakily and licked her lips. "Together."


End file.
